Once you watch the video below you will recognise some similarities in philosophy of some of the other great and recognisable global brands such as Apple or Braun from its hay day. Horacio Pagani believes that art and engineering aren’t mutually exclusive, and his passion for both can clearly be seen in every automobile that bears his name.

Horacio says that it’s his love for art and engineering which naturally brought him to automobiles. In automobiles these two disciplines can live as one.

Horacio describes Leonardo Da Vinci as one of his major influences. During the Renaissance over 500 years ago Da Vinci sustained that ‘art and science were two disciplines that could walk hand in hand’. It was this phrase by Da Vinci which enlightened Haracio Pagani and helped him on his path to where he now is. He also said part of the reason why he moved from Argentina to Italy was to be in the land of Leonardo, the other factor or course was his passion for sports cars.

When discussing the Zonda Horacio felt that it was necessary to create an object that represented and was part of his creative vision, he felt it had to have a great personality and be entirely unique. He wanted a car that would be ageless and that was very different from a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, he wanted to create an object that could have its own characteristics.

I remember the first time I saw this exhaust in person, a mate and I stood and admired it for 20 minutes. We had never seen anything like it, and that was just one aspect of the car. We probably spent half a day looking at the whole thing.

Horatio finished the design of the Zonda in 1993, it then took six years to produce. The most amazing thing about this is that the Zonda is still being made today which is almost 20 years after it was designed. Talk about a timeless design... 

Check out Lamborghini's latest concept. In a continuation of Lamborghini's tradition of naming its cars after stars from the world of bullfighting, and the Urus is no different.

The Aventador was a trophy-winning bull in the world of Spanish bullfighting and the Murciélago was named for a fighting bull that survived 28 sword strokes in an 1879 fight. Murciélago fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor.

The Urus backstory is its the first bull, because it’s the name of the long-extinct ancestor of modern domestic cattle. Lamborghini claims the modern Spanish fighting bull looks similar to the Urus, which stood up to 1.8 metres high in the shoulder.

The Urus is the first SUV By Lamborghini since the LM002 in 1985 and as you can see much better looking... While it’s not a name that rolls off the tongue, it’s better than the LM003 would have been and might hopefully sell more.

The Lamborghini Urus recently took the stage at the Beijing Motor Show and, according to the manufacturer, the car is a 600 hp beast that will be the fastest SUV on the planet. For a mere $hit load the 4-seat (yes, it only carries 4 people) SUV can be yours in 2015 (if they follow through to production).  The only question left is how fast the fastest SUV on earth get you from your water side mansion to the golf club. My guess is pretty goddamn fast.

Hello Driven Fans, 

I tell you what it's been a long time since Driven has seen some action but honestly it's been a crazy year. Rob and I both kicked off fulltime jobs, did some travelling, prioritised with women; not automobiles, and for that we want to apologise. We're going to revive Driven this year, turn it around and unleash the potential we know it holds. To kick it off I want to ease everyone in slowly to a car I know everyone is highly anticipating, the 458 Italia Spider.

 
Just quickly on the specs, the engine of the 458 Italia Spider is the same 4.5-liter V8 engine from the hard-top version you may have seen sitting outside the Blu hotel in Woolloomoolloo with the number plat JASA 1. The output remains at 570 horsepower at 9,000 rpm and 400 lb/ft of torque at 6,000 rpm controlled by a seven-speed dual clutch transmission and electronic differential. Down to business, it'll do 0-100 in less than 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 318 km/h which is obviously astonishingly quick. 

Now don't get me wrong, I have always been a solid believer that convertibles are for 50 year old divorced men who have re-mortgaged their homes to appeal to a women who is young enough to be their daughter. But, that's because we always read about the convertible versions of cars losing their poignancy. Cars like the original DB9 and even the DBS, that suffered from the lose of rigidity in the roof and unintentionally became gt cruisers for elderly couples. Everything I've read about the Spider couldn't be further from what I have just described, to the point where critics have prefered the Spider to the hard top and that excites me. 

Apparently a convertible version of the 458 was always part of the product plan so the chassis was designed for the hard top that wouldn't be compromised with the loss of the roof. So like Bam Magera if you really wanted to you could cut the top off and make your very own targa version if you couldn't be bothered waiting till this one hits the Australian shores.

The undressing takes a mere 14 seconds, which means you can drop it at the lights out the front of Beach Burrito and yell out to the table of 10's sitting out the front. Top down or up, the draft stopping safety glass slides down between the deck buttresses (essentially the rear window) and channels the snarling V8 straight into your ear drums. Apprently, and I can't back this up from experience, the hard top looses this to some extent. 

All I know is Rob and I followed the hard top version from Paddingtion down to Woolloomoolloo and as we drove through down Wylde St in Potts Point with the windows down and the stereo off we watched the Italia chug ever so slightly as the gear dropped into the final corner coming down to the waterfront. We both cheered as the rev's jumped above 4000rpm and the valve in the three-pipe exhaust opened up and barked the most ferocious and orgasmic noise the two of us had ever heard. Now, if it's that good and I wasn't even in the car, I cannot imagine what it's like with the engine sitting right behind you completely unobstructed. 

Hopefully this will be the car that gives convertibles a new reputation, all I know is, it looks amazing, it obviously sounds amazing and if I had $600,000 to spend, I wouldn't be getting a Platinum Patek Phillipe Minute Repeater.....i'd obviously buy the car.

Here's a video of Fernado Alonso driving one, 1:40 is nice. 

(Images from netcarshow.com)

The direction for design and feel in which car companies should be heading the Alfa Romeo 4C leads the way and shows us how it’s done.

Heavily inspired by arguably the prettiest car of the past decade – the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione – the 4C Concept is a small sports coupe that stands at just four metres in length.

In the 4C Concept, the engine is mid-mounted like a supercar, and with the brand’s TCT twin-dry-clutch six-speed automatic transmission sending power to the rear wheels, Alfa says it is capable of sprinting from 0-100km/h in less than five seconds.

The concept’s top speed is in excess of 250km/h, yet the Italians say fuel consumption is “typical of a four-cylinder engine”.

The entire body is crafted from carbon fibre, and the rear frame structure is made of aluminium. All up, weight is less than 850kg – lighter than the most stripped-out variant of the Lotus Elise.

A production version of the Alfa Romeo 4C will go on sale.

Here is a video of Mark Webber talking about his Porsche. It's safe to say that he knows how to drive a car, and he understands what he wants out of his road cars. His chariot of choice? The 911 GT2 RS.

If you are a true car enthusiast and don’t mind playing a few racing games every once in a while, then at one time in your life you have played Mario Kart on one of the many Nintendo entertainment systems. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to experience the Mario Kart game in real life? Rémi Gaillard does. He made an interesting video some time ago reenacting the Mario Kart game ‘in real life’.

The video on Youtube of his first rendition has been viewed over 35 million times. A new ‘part 2’ to his Mario Kart extravaganza is now available as a continuation of his first from back in 2008. These videos are downright hilarious and a must watch. Check them out, both part 1 and 2 below! Enjoy!

Its pretty safe to say that the majority of Driven Interest readers have seen the MP4-12C. McLaren's newest hypercar is getting the gloves on and will be a vicious competitor in ring that is the world of high performance vehicles. According to recent reports the MP4-12C is able to crack the 100km mark in "under three seconds" when utilizing the launch control feature on its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. With the Gallardo and Italia pumping out the same distance in 3.4 and 3.3 seconds respectively the McLaren is sure to be seriously quick. 

The 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8-powered will start at £168,500 in the UK, while other EU markets will get their hands on it for around €200,000 ($272,000). Australian prices are yet to be released, but are expected to be north of $300,000. (Plus the rest in taxes and other crap we have to pay so lets just say $500,000). Customisation options will no doubt increase the prices of individual vehicles. McLaren has already confirmed the 12C will be available with 14 different interior trim designs, as well as a sports exhaust system, lightweight wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes, among others.

Morgan has unveiled its new Threewheeler, a modern reinterpretation of the iconic Threewheeler model, produced from 1909 to 1953. Among the features are a 1.8 liter Harley Davidson engine combined with a weight of just 500 kg.

Homologated as a motorcycle, it will be powered by the “Screaming Eagle” 1800 cc engine from Harley Davidson coupled with a Mazda 5 speed gearbox.

Focused on simplicity and reliability, the new Threewheeler is based on a structure made of a tubular frame and two rollover bars that surround the passenger compartment.

The V-twin 100hp engine is mounted at the front, ahead of the body, which is built using superformed aluminum and rivets.

Among the rétro-inspired elements are the wire wheels, the front headlights and the twin flyscreens.

The side view is dominated by the two straight black exhaust pipes.

The essential interior features a two-seats bench with no headrests. The frame is exposed and the aircraft-styled dashboard has a ‘Bomb release’ style start button.

Thanks to the weight lower than 500 kg the new Threewheeler will achieve an exceptional power-to-weight ratio, and will combine high performances – top speed of 185 km/h, 0-60 mph sprint in 4.5 seconds – with good fuel economy.

Source

Audi is working on the acoustics of its future electric models. The sounds currently under development take inspiration from sci-fi movies and from the Audi RSQ Concept featured in “I, Robot” and shown below.

A number of carmakers believe that a good solution would be the creation of an artificial sound.

Audi has recently released an official document that explains some details of this particular design process.

At the moment the company is testing new sounds which are based on the basic waveforms of internal combustion engines, but also include new sound components that could contribute to the car image.

As Audi Head of Acoustics Ralf Kunkel explains, the sonorities currently under development take inspiration from the spaceships featured in many sci-fi movies.

The Audi of the future will have a “new and unusual” sound, and the Audi RSQ from the Hollywood movie, I Robot gives an indication of how it might sound.

Also organizations for the blind worldwide advocate giving quiet cars a unique sound; specifications or laws to this effect are already in place in the U.S.A. and Japan.

The sound technicians at Audi have long since taken up the task of protecting pedestrians in the electric mobility era.

“One way do this is by generating artificial noise in electric cars,” says Kunkel. The acousticians are currently hard at work on the sound design of the Audi e-tron. It is not just a matter of safety, but also a question of how the Audi of the future should sound.

“The obvious approach would be to work on the basis of the familiar sound of a combustion engine,” says Christian Schüller, Head of Brand Development/Corporate Identity.

“On the other hand, we want to underscore that an electric or hybrid Audi is an innovative product. We also want to make our Vorsprung durch Technik audible in the era of electric mobility.”

The rustling of leaves, the twittering of birds or shrill tones such as those used on snow cats are therefore not viable options.

However: “The sounds used for space ships in films are reminiscent of car sounds, yet are also very different, making this a rather interesting approach,” says Kunkel.

An Audi will not sound like an airplane with jet engines or a space ship from a science fiction film any time soon, though. “But the sound will be new and unusual. The Audi RSQ from the Hollywood film I, Robot gives an indication of how an Audi might sound in the future.”

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Whatever drug this naked Russian guy is on don't take it.

Moral of the story... don't get blitzed out of your mind, start jumping on cars and antagonizing the locals or you'll get your ass kicked.