For decades we have seen the national auto shows, where the major manufacturers roll out their new models and a few flashy "prototypes" that will never see an assembly line. Then there are the rod and custom shows, populated thirty years ago by twenty- and thirty-somethings and filled these days with middle aged and older auto enthusiasts who still love classic American cars, both stock and in all the different permutations of customization they have gone through over the years.

And of course there’s the Concourse D’Elegance crowd, oohing and aahing at priceless Ferraris from the fifties and sixties as well as the older exotics such as Packards and, going even further back, Hispano-Suizas and Auburns.

For those who lived American Graffiti and those who live for the foreign classics, if you’re involved at all in building, maintaining or participating in the fellowship that has built around classics and exotics, you should consider utilizing a website.

First of all, it’s a great way to show off your car or cars, whatever you’ve got in the garage that is carefully driven once a week and towed, gleaming, to car shows. Secondly, it’s a communications device for like-minded collectors or builders that may be interested in your specialty - whether old Corvettes or sixties Alfa Romeos. There are current web sites for national and regional organizations as well as a number of sites that specialize as classified advertising for scarce auto parts.

A personal site, however, is going to give you a far different type of interaction with your fellow wrench addicts. Instead of searching impersonal national websites for parts or people with similar interests, you can use your site to bring them to you. Proper use of keywords and perhaps a classified ad or two online will bring potential contacts to you personally, and there they will find a site with photos of your car(s), your shop and a little history about your involvement.

You don’t have to find contacts like that at shows or in pulp publications for parts and project cars. A properly designed site for a car enthusiast that elaborates on his area of interest and the history of his cars will give that person a potentially national social role in the company of his peers, just as the kids are using MySpace to communicate.

You can advertise for parts, show vehicles for sale - with unlimited photos and videos, if you wish - and put the word out for a car you might be seeking for your next project. This approach will also limit your needs for entering ads in national locations. All you need to do is mention "55 Chevy for sale at www.old55.com" or whatever your site address is, and the interested parties will come to you. No more details listed in long paragraphs done in tiny print - and no more photos of your car on a page or in a lineup of dozens of other vehicles.

Let’s face it guys; we’re not all going to be able to pay for a Ferrari or a Porsche. Despite this may be a sad fact to have to face up to, yet its there nonetheless. At times exotic cars are out of reach for all except for those who are affluent and even they occasionally have trouble keeping up with the payments and maintenance of a Bentley or a Lotus. Sure the allure is strong; simply imagine slipping into the leather cockpit of your Lamborghini and cruising around curves at hundred miles per hour with the wind in your hair and the sun on your face.

Sure you may have everything from your driving gloves to your sunglasses and your driver’s license, though the one thing you wish for is to have enough money for a Lamborghini. And then there’s the Camry or Taurus, which in spite everything just don’t have enough horsepower to take mountain roads at 100, and even though you could get it going that fast it would in all probability fly off the road due to its lousy suspension.

Nevertheless what if you didn’t have the chance to own a Lamborghini or Lotus to be able to drive it around those hairpin turns? Well, nowadays we do have a great way to try out a luxury or high-powered sports car of our dreams, with exotic car rental we don’t have to sell our house or steal one from one of your yuppie friends. There are a number of can rental companies, mainly in wealthier areas, starting to specialize in exotic car rental. In fact even the regular airport car rental companies like Enterprise and Hertz are starting to rent out exotics or perhaps luxury cars along with the standard economy and touring cars.

For those who would like to try one out, you don’t need to fly out of town or go on a holiday, almost any special occasion will do. Maybe you want to knock the socks off your date or perhaps impress your wife on your anniversary. Yes, you can either show up at the door behind the wheel of a Lotus Espirit or a Porsche 911. And for those who feel like making their son or daughter’s prom a night to remember then forget about the limo; a sleek black Bentley will get them there in style.

Despite the fact that the exotic car rental is generally a little more expensive than renting a Camry at the airport, it’s at all times a lot more memorable. Besides exotic car rentals also make great gifts; as some rental agencies which rent exotics also rent classic cars, so you could give your dad or uncle the ride of his dreams in a vintage Corvette or brand new Ferrari. Sure, it will make a great gift instead of the usual set of gold clubs or tie clip that you were considering as an alternative!

Brabus CL 5.8 V8 is an exotic coupe car which is the real Germany sport lineage. It’s manufactured by Germany Company (Mercedes-Benz) and it’s tuned by Brabus, the Germany tuning company. Brabus is high-performance aftermarket tuning company which specializes in Germany automotive (Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Smart). Customers who love sport car can either buy cars straight from Brabus or send in their Mercedes to be customized and overhauled. Brabus buys the particular car from Mercedes and then modifies it in-house according to the customer’s requests if customers order a car from Brabus.

When Mercedes-Benz prepares to debut CL500 to worldwide showrooms, Brabus start configure and tune up it from original to more exotic car. The new modified car has a high power V8 engine, four 20 inch monoblock wheels, aerodynamic kit, sport suspension kit and the high quality leather interior. The new 5.8L V8 engine can generate 597 Nm torque, 400 Hp. / 294 Kw. Horsepower on 5800 rpm and 0-100 Km. / Hr. accelerate time is 5.9 second. Although, Brabus CL5.8 is the high performance car, but it respect to environment atmosphere. It passed emission test from German Vehicle Inspection Agency, Institute for Motor Vehicle Technology in Essen. And its engine is received all of Euro 4 environment standard.

Brabus design team creates the design program for the original entity making of Mercedes-Benz CL500 coupe. Design objective makes impressive visual and good aerodynamic simultaneously. Front bumper and Rear bumper are produced from high quality Pur-R-Rim material. And spoiler installation uses the same Mercedes-Benz standard position. Therefore, Body drilling is not necessity. Designed front bumper reduces tilt car’s front. The sport front spotlight makes the night vision better. Interior design entity of Brabus uses Mastik Leather, the high quality material which is soft and long-lived property. If buyers order to Brabus directly, they can select interior colors and accessories as their like.

Easy way to recognize the original Brabus CL 5.8 V8 is car’s body checking. Texts of car’s rear are “Brabus” and “5.8” (not Mercedes Benz). A star emblem on car’s rear is replaced by “B”, Brabus logo. The twin tail pipe tip is engraved by “B” character. However, it’s hard to verify the engine if you aren’t the expert. Therefore, you should enquire the information about this car from automotive magazines and car websites for the right purchasing.

Each Harley-Davidson rider wants to have a unique Harley that is distinct to any of the existing Harley in the world. This creates more pride and excitement to the owner. This is why customized Harley-Davidson is the second factory of either a brand new or pre-owned Harleys.

So what is customized Harley-Davidson?

Have you been to auto shows like the LA Auto Show or the Detroit Auto Show? Have you seen those custom made vehicles that are truly one of their kinds? Have you seen those flashy designs that could turn the heads of every bystander every time these custom vehicles pass by?

Customized Harley-Davidson motorcycles are motorcycles that have been modified and fabricated to become the sole possessor of a particular look or theme. Customized Harley-Davidson projects a unique blend of the owner’s personal impression and the artistic expression to a subject. The customized Harley-Davidson is a work of art that could be a source of inspiration for other future customized vehicle but could not be exactly imitated.

Why is customized Harley-Davidson hot?

No matter where you go, a Harley-Davidson is a head turner. What more if it is a customized Harley-Davidson? How much attraction could it get if the Harley has been modified with all the latest, exotic or techy stuffs available?

Since the owners would want to create an attractive Harley-Davidson motorcycle that would signify their inner impression, customization is the only resort. Thus, when a customized Harley hits a show or the road, no one can resist its power to turn heads. Customized Harley-Davidson is hot because of these reasons.

Where can you acquire custom Harley-Davidson services?

There several sites on the internet like the http://www.cyrilhuze.com and the http://www.hogpainter.com that are more than willing to transform your Harley motorcycle into work of art. They will convert your Harley-Davidson into a more exciting machine to ride. They will make your Harley-Davidson the best one in town. Hear of the Hot Rods? They are the most popular car restorer and fabricators in the United States. They have entries in auto shows around the world. They have won several prestigious awards by converting simple cars into mean machines. They have services top brand of cars from popular people.

You too can acquire such service with top Harley-Davidson custom makers. You can contact them from their sites or visit them at their addresses and have your Harley motorcycle the real image it deserves.

You might think that 6 liters was enough to make the Corvette two-seater fast enough, but not for the competition department lurking inside GM. They wanted to be able to compete head-to-head with the European supercars in the international endurance races for sports cars.

To do so, they took a leaf out of Ford’s book. In the 1960s, when Ford found it could not compete with the smaller Ferraris at Le Mans with the 4.2 (ex-Indy) or 4.7 liter engines, they brought out their 7-liter mill. And it was so much bigger than the competition that they won. So the guys behind the Corvette decided to produce a 7-liter version of America’s favorite and most famous sports car.

By the way, the 7 liter Corvette more than competes with the Dodge Viper SRT-10, which could give the standard Corvette a bit of a run for its money. Of course, this is not just any old engine. This is a very special version of its GEN IV 7.0 liter V-8.

This 2006 Corvette is challenging for muscle car of the year with no less than 500 bhp on tap at 6,200 rpm. Maximum torque from this mammoth engine is 475 lb ft at 4,800 rpm. This is bound to be a stunner with a top speed of about 185 mph and 0-60 in under 4.0 seconds. GM expects the quarter-mile be under 12 seconds.

To give durability, the engine has been beefed up in a number of ways. First, the connecting rods and inlet valves are now made of titanium – these weigh about half as much as steel ones and are used in quite a number of high-performance engines. Because of the low weight, the titanium parts put less load on other critical parts of the engine - the crankshaft, bearings and in this case the valve gear as well. The titanium valves also allow the engine to rev faster safely.

In fact, titanium used to be an aerospace-only material because it was so expensive, but it is now bein gused more in exotic cars and the heads of golf clubs, helping the lesser pros feel not so outclassed by Tiger Woods as they might with ordinary drivers.

You will see that the Corvette 7 liter is intended for the race track by the fact that the engine has a dry sump lube system. A dry sump system prevents the oil in the oil pan from slopping away from the pick-up on fast cornering – the sort you can do only on a track – and thus damaging the main bearings.

Instead of staying in the oil pan, the oil is pumped out to a tank, and then pressure fed from there directly to the engine bearings and other critical areas. Definitely a system for top supercars.

The underpinnings of the car have also been beefed up with a new aluminum perimeter frame which reduces weight. Further weight reduction comes with a new magnesium engine sub-frame. To ensure the car is stiff enough, it will be available only as a hardtop. The front fenders and wheelarches are now carbon fiber composite panels, which also reduce weight.

But there’s more…

To get all that power onto the road, and to get it to stop, bigger wheels, tires and brakes have been fitted. The front brake discs are now 13.9 inch diameter, and 19 x 12 inch wide rims are used at the back; front wheels are 18 x 9.5 inches. Such massive rear tires for a car with 50:50 weight distribution suggest that the car will have a tendency to oversteer – smoky drifts could be the order of the day!

All-in-all, this is a really special car, developed to compete with the best.

Designed to win races, the Maserati MC12 is actually sold as a road car, albeit it a very impractical one. Still what do you expect with a 620 bhp exotic car? The car looks just like the sports racing car that it is. To be fair, it is a real two-seater while the cars that race at Le Mans are more like single-seaters.

Only 25 MC12s were built initially, and quite a few were used for racing. Actually, when they heard about Maserati building the MC12 for the GTA championship (ooops, sorry for sale as a road car, was the official line, I think) some of the other companies threatened to withdraw as they thought the presence of the MC12 on the starting grid would make a farce of the whole series.

Although the Maserati MC12, is a true exotic car, it is based on the Ferrari Enzo. The whole idea was to upgrade Maserati’s image following a checkered history. The glory of the 50s, when Maserati was a regular winner of Grand Prix, got lost in the mire of an economic downturn, when the company took the wrong turn more than once.

As Ferrari and Maserati are both part of the Fiat Group, and were in fact in the same sub-group, it made sense to modify the Enzo to get Maserati back as a winner. Now, Ferrari and Maserati have been put in different sub-groups, so this sort of collaboration is not expected in the future.

V-12 from Ferrari with 622 bhp

The Maserati MC12 looks completeley different from the Enzo, though,, with a long nose and very long tail. Where the Enzo is angular, the MC12 is curved. It has a carbon fiber body structure with steel sub-frames front and rear. Power comes from a 6.0 liter V-12 developing 622 bhp @ 7,500 rpm, and 480 lb ft (652 Nm) torque @ 5,500 rpm. A semi-racing engine to be sure. It is coupled to a semi-automatic six-speed sequential gearbox, developed by Ferrari in racing.

Suspension is by double wishbones, with inboard spring and damper units acting through pushrods. These are mounted horizontally as on the Enzo. The dampers have variable rates. Quite a car, but not as extreme as the Bugatti Veyron or the latest Saleen S7.

Following the racing success of the MC12, Maserati is now to build a more extreme version - the MC12 Corsa. The MC12 Corsa has a massively uprated Enzo V-12 engine giving about 750bhp. You can get this for about $1.3 million - or £700,000 or Euros 1 million depending where you live.

But this is not a road car, nor will you be able to race it in any official categories – so this is a trackday special at a huge price. Maserati plans to build about 12 MC12 Corsas a year.

Latest super-sports car from England is the Caparo Freestream supercar, which will have a power-to-weight ratio of 1,000 bhp per ton! The Bugatti Veyron which has 1,001 bhp manages about 560 bhp per tonne, so how you can see that the Caparo is streets ahead of any other supercar in power-to-weight ratio, and that is what makes cars accelerate fast. And fast acceleration is very exciting, and can also improve safety of the car in some circumstances.

So how does the Caparo do it? Not with 2,000 bhp because the car would weigh at least 2.5 tons, which would miss the target. In fact, Bugatti has demonstrated that sheer power means a lot of weight, particularly in the transmission and brakes.

To get a high power-to-weight-ratio you need a light car. And why is a high power-to-weight-ratio important? Because it dictates how fast the car accelerates flat out. A car with a high power-to-weight-ratio can cover the ground quicker because it gets out of corners fast and accelerates up the straights faster. So long as the handling is good, the car will be very fast anywhere.

Lightweight solution

Instead of going for a big engine with masses of power, the designers, who worked on the McLaren F1, have gone for ultra lightweight and a compact V-8 engine based on F1 technology. The result is a pencil-slim car with 480 bhp at 10,500 rpm from a supercharged 2.4 liter engine, and a weight of under 1,100 lb. Both the new engine and transmission are very light, as are all the components. The very narrow body without fully enclosed fenders also reduces weight.

The whole design concept has been aimed at reducing weight, ore not putting in things that add weight. First, the power train is very light compared with mass-production units. Then, the carbon fiber body/chassis is also much lighter than most, as designers without Grand Prix experience tend to over-design their structures. Also, because the power train is light, the loads on the body are lower, so again less weight does not need to be built into the structure.

It has a very narrow cockpit, with the passenger sitting slightly behind the driver to reduce width, so this is more of a track racer or trackday special than a road car. Even so, this car changes the concept of exotic cars to where it should be - ultra-lightweight, compactness and exciting performance round twisty roads or circuits.

To save weight they have adopted a narrow coupe body with cycle-type front mudguards, and side-mounted radiators which flow into the rear fenders.

In fact, these are all factors used by Colin Chapman to design the early Lotus cars, and since used by all racing car companies. In other words, the Caparo Freestream really takes advantage of Grand Prix technology to build a supercar.

The Caparo Freestream looks very unusual, but if you want sheer performance this is it! The makers say the car will hit 200 mph, and accelerate from a standing start of 100 mph in 5.5 seconds!! Holy mackerel that is fast. Oh, and they also say that owing to the downforce available, the T1 will be able to corner and brake at 3g - incredible. This tremendous cornering power and braking would not be possible without the use of Grand Prix design principles.

On top of all that, Caparo, which produces a lot of components for the auto industry, have priced the Freestream at about $320,000 (£176,000).

The Third annual St. Petersburg “Festivals of Speed” will take place in St. Petersburg, Florida in Vinoy Park on Sunday February 26, 2006 with a collection of the worlds leading “Super Cars” in attendance. Ferrari FXX, Bugatti Veyron, Maserati MC 12, Porsche GT1 and others all ready for display.

Festivities begin on Friday, February 24th with a “Jet Hop” reception. Participants, sponsors and guests will gather in an actual aircraft hanger for a festive evening as they indulge in cocktails from a premium brands open bar and enjoy Martini’s from a sculptured ice bar. As for culinary options, guests will delight their palette with food from themed food stations On display will be a fabulous display of exotic cars, luxurious aircraft, custom motorcycles and high speed boats. Smooth Jazz, a live/silent auction and drawings to win luxury items are a part of the fun.

On Saturday the 25th a “Yacht Hop” will take place 12pm-3pm. As guests arrive, valets will escort attendees to a watercraft at the Renaissance Vinoy Marina. Once on board, guests will enjoy cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres while having the opportunity to fully experience the grandeur of these magnificent vessels.

Saturday evening will see a reception at the Four Diamond Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club. Guests will gather for a very special evening as they enjoy cocktails from a premium brands open bar and indulge in a wide array of culinary delights. Live music, silent auctions benefiting the Children’s Dream Fund and festive Martini bars will add to the excitement. Tickets to the Friday and Saturday receptions are available, but limited. For information on attending, contact event organizers. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: renaissance vinoy resort | vinoy park | exotic cars | bugatti veyron | st petersburg

CollectorCarTraderOnline.com, a division of Trader Publishing Company, launches ExoticTraderOnline.com, a Web site dedicated to buying and selling Exotic vehicles. [PRWEB Mar 30, 2005]