Auto Eroticism: Fisker Karma

For once, buying a $100,000+ car may be fiscally responsible.

In addition to being American-made, the long-awaited Karma separates itself from its Italian, German, and British peers in the six-figure, "golddigger-radar-lock" category of automobiles by running on electricity (though it can also run on gas, depending how you toggle the settings in the cockpit). At 5300 lbs and only 400 bhp, the Karma is more tourer than sportscar (a bit of semantics that might help you justify spending $100K on a car that needs six seconds to go from 0-60 mph), but its modest performance is made much more tolerable knowing you're getting 30 to 40 miles per gallon.

From Tamara Warren and Life + Times:

The substantial 22-inch wheels seem to fit snugly to the big body. Side by side with a Maserati Quattroporte, it looked as if the Karma could have swallowed the Italian sports car. The Karma specs confirm my observations, weighing in at a hefty 5300 pounds. The 403 horsepower and 959 pound feet of torque make for respectable, if not fast and furious performance. The Karma climbs from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds in electric mode, and just under six seconds using the gasoline engine. It’s much more exciting to drive a Karma than, say a plug-in counterpart like the Nissan Leaf. But what this means is that the fuel economy is actually somewhere in the 30 to 40 mpg range for regular driving, 50 mpg on a mindful day of all electric driving. I had fun clicking a leaver between Stealth (all-electric) and Sport (gasoline power). Electric cars are by nature silent, but Fisker added in whirring sound effects that add drama to the drive experience.

The Karma is definitely pretty; but, to be honest, if this price range is realistic for me, I'd probably go with an M3 and spend the difference on gas. Though it does strike me as a perfectly good "wifey car". Maybe if Hiromi is extra good to me, I'll cop her one on her birthday. [It may also help her chances if she actually knew I existed. *cough*]

Auto Eroticism: BMW M6

The latest generation of BMW's premiere muscle car is (almost) here.

From Top Gear:

It's the second M car to get the very highly pumped 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine - first seen on the rather smashing new M5 - and therefore boasts 552bhp and 502lb ft of torque. That's more power than the Jaguar XKR-S. Power, naturally, goes to the rear wheels via a seven-speed M double clutch gearbox with launch control.

As such, BMW quotes a 0-62mph time of 4.2 seconds for the Coupe, and 4.3 seconds for the Convertible, 0-124mph in 12.6 seconds (13.1s for the drop-top) and the option of a 189mph top speed with the ‘M Driver's Package'.

Despite this herculean power and acceleration, BMW still reckons the Coupe will return 28.5mpg, though we suspect anyone achieving this hasn't really got the point of a twin-turbo V8. There's a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic roof for the coup', start-stop, and other Efficient Dynamics stuff, which brings CO2 emissions to 232g/km (239g/km for the convertible).

...Inside, there's lots of M badging, some leather, carbon fibre strips, illuminated sills and some digital assistants including lane departure warning, surround view, night vision with pedestrian recognition (do you really need a computer to tell you what a human looks like?) and Internet access. You might like to think of it as a 1,850kg, 552bhp Facebook app. Update your status to "BMW M6 is sideways".

The most interesting part of the numbers above is the 28.5 mpg estimation. That's roughly 16 mpg more than the previous M6 pulled. If that's anywhere near being accurate, I'd consider that one hell of an achievement by BMW's engineers.

The cost of all of this fantasticness? Approximately $150,000. There but by the grace of PowerBall go I.

My boy Armo with the heads-up.

Vehicle for Expression

If you're looking to add a few touches to the walls of your place, Movie Car Posters.com can help you out with some serious wall swag. Not just restricted to movies (or cars), they've taken your favorite vehicles from both the big and small screens and artistically silhouetted them against themed backdrops. The resulting posters are both fun and impressively artistic...and maybe a tad hipsterish, but that stink should wear off relatively quickly. Then you just have a cool decoration that shines in your pimped-out room.

A few of my personal favorites:

The A-Team

Transformers

Top Gun

TJ with the assist.

Auto Eroticism: Elemment Palazzo

Does this look like something you would pay $3 million for? Probably not, since it looks like it was designed as an ode to Sarah Jessica Parker. But beauty—or lack thereof—is only skin deep.

From Yahoo! News:

Austrian company Marchi Mobile designed Palazzo as part of its Elemment line of luxury vehicles that very visibly displays the trappings of wealth. You'll see in Palazzo what you never thought you'd see inside an RV. Master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom? Check. Leather interior? Check. Rainfall shower, fireplace, and 40" TVs? Check, check, check.

Impressive enough as it is, it doesn't end there — the 40' long Palazzo also has a pop-out bar replete with a skylight and underfloor heating that you can activate by pushing a single button. The bar adds 80% more room to the camper's original 430 square feet floor space. When it comes to the exterior side of things, you may or may not be glad to know (depending on how you feel about it) that the Palazzo is covered in glow-in-the-dark paint.

The Palazzo sounds perfect for a weekend roadtrip from Monaco to the Formula One grand prix in Valencia. You know, for those peasants who can't afford to own more than one house.

Auto Eroticism: Jaguar C-X16

Suddenly Britain's back in the business of making stunning cars.

Hot on the heels of recent press releases on the new Lotus Espirit and Bentley Continental GTC, Jaguar has just upped the ante. I think this is the first time a Jaguar has ever made me say, "Daaaammmnnnnnn..." This car is just gorgeous. It's a "production concept", meaning you can look for it in showrooms in the near future (likely in the fall of 2012).

From Automobile Magazine:

the C-X16 slots in beneath the XK, seats only two, but packs a serious punch. A new all-aluminum supercharged 3.0-liter V-6, rated at 380 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque, lurks underhood. That engine’s paired with a hybrid system that offers a so-called “push to pass” function. Much like the KERS systems employed in Formula One racing, an electric motor — rated at 93 hp and 173 lb-ft of torque — can provide an extra boost.

Jaguar says that powertrain is just as mean as it is green: in fact, the automaker claims it can rocket the C-X16 from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, and ultimately to a top speed of 186 mph.

There are no early hints at the price tag, but given the market sector they're aiming for, I'm going to guess you'll need at least $50,000 to have one sitting in your driveway. If I had that kind of money to spend on a car, I would struggle with a decision between one of these and a BMW M3, which says A LOT.

Here are some more photos from Top Gear's website (they have even more beyond these).

Auto Eroticism: Bentley Continental GTC

Soon to be appearing in NFL player parking lots and MTV videos.

From Life + Times:

Here, Life+Times has front-of-the-line access to images of the Continental GTC convertible, showcasing a bold new design, featuring advanced production technology, a hand-crafted cabin with class-leading infotainment, and a 6.0-litre w12 engine with Flexfuel capability. Welcome to the revolutionary four-seater convertible. Enjoy the ride.

Baller Blockin

The U.S. sees Pagani ridin...
They hatin...

For all of you Billionaire Boys Club members who've been itching to get your hands on the new Huayra, it looks like you'll have to tide yourself over with a Ferrari or McLaren until 2013.

From Yahoo! Autos:

Italian automaker Pagani was to begin selling its $1 million, 700 horsepower Huayra supercar in the U.S. later this year but federal safety regulators have said "Not so fast."

Pagani had applied for an exemption from federal auto safety rules requiring child-safe "advanced" airbags, arguing that complying with the rule would have caused "substantial economic hardship," according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA denied the request, essentially blocking the car from sale in the U.S., because Pagani failed to show that installing the airbags on the twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder carbon-titanium car would cause the company undue financial strain. Also, the Italian carmaker didn't show that serious efforts had been made to comply, the agency said.

I know Pagani is a relatively small operation, but I can't imagine any carmaker today—especially one making a $1 million car—not including the most up-to-date airbags and safety measures required by law. These types of things tend to add weight to a car and affect its balance (and therefore, performance), but I would much rather have a million-dollar car that keeps me and my co-pilot alive when we crash at 200 mph than one that kills us when we crash at 205 mph.

Auto Eroticism: Lotus Espirit

Lotus is stepping up their game.

The famed automaker has played the backburner to bigger brands from Britain such as Jaguar, Bentley, and Rolls Royce in the last couple of decades. But, as Tamara Warren reports at Life + Times, they're looking to make a big splash in the coming years, starting with the Espirit.

The unveiling of concept car is a landmark occasion for an auto designer. Lotus design director Donato Coco punctuated this point when the British company introduced six new cars at the Paris Motor Show last fall, fresh from his design studio. In less than two years on the job, Coco’s bold and sweeping strokes have redefined the look of contemporary Lotus cars as a premium marque designed to tangle with the biggest luxury brands. The Esprit, Elan, Elite, Elise, Eterne and the Lotus City Car — the Ethos hatchback— are a glance at the ambitious plans Lotus CEO Danny Behar hopes to achieve in the next product cycle.

The Esprit, a voluptuous two-seater mid engine supercar, is the first of these concept cars that will come to market in 2013. “This will be the first car that is completely new and will represent what we’ve been doing here for the past year,” Coco says. The car will speed from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds to reach a top speed of 205 mph.

While the angular features of the Espirit remind me of a Lamborghini, that's not necessarily a bad thing (aside from occasionally having the following convo with a young chick, who will likely be unfamiliar with the Lotus name: "Is that a Murcialago?" "No, it's a Lotus." "Oh."). And, since Lotus is targeting Porsche's share of the supercar market, the Espirit will likely be available at a fraction of a Murcialago's cost. If you've got a spare $150K lying around, I'd suggest you call up Lotus right now to place an order.

Auto Eroticism: Bugatti 16 C Galibier

I don't know how I feel about this.

From Yahoo! Autos:

Given the superlative nature and awesome speed of Bugatti’s already legendary, 250-plus mph Veyron supercar, interest in the manufacturer’s follow-up is intense. The company had previously gone on record as saying that its next model wouldn’t be a supercar, but details were scant — until now. In a recent article from the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer confirms that the new car will be in the vein of the controversial 16 C Galibier concept, which debuted in 2009. It will seat four and have a generous trunk, Dürheimer says; you can bet that a set of fitted luggage will be one of the pricey options.

More important is what’s fitted up front, of course, which the article claims will be a 16-cylinder engine, although power output wasn’t mentioned. (The W-16 under the Galibier’s butterfly bonnet delivers a mere 800 hp, somewhat less than the 1,001 churned up by the 8-liter W-16 in the mid-engine Veyron.) The Galibier concept is big, though, so don’t expect Veyron-esque, sub-three-second zero-to-60-mph sprints no matter how much carbon fiber and aluminum the new car contains. Interestingly, a hybrid model (presumably a plug-in hybrid) is on the docket as well, with an electric-only driving range of about 25 miles, according to Dürheimer.

On the one hand, I would love to take a long road trip in a car like this. I just drove to Chattanooga and back within the past week; as unpleasant as a trip of that length can be, doing so in this car would have to make it just that much better.

On the other hand, the words "Bugatti" and "family" just don't seem to belong in the same sentence. I mean, if your kids are 17 or older, then maybe it's not so bad. But can you imagine having two small children in an interior of extravagant leathers and woodgrain? How many scratches, rips, and stains would you have to get fixed after the first week?

Auto Eroticism: BMW M5

BMW has released images of its new M5 concept car, which looks like it could be very close to the finished product. Me likey...me likey a lot.