Autos

When you’re living the billionaire lifestyle, owning just an “average” Rolls-Royce coupe isn’t enough to help you stand out from the crowd.  You need a car like the limited edition Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe Aviator; only 35 examples of this exquisite and ultra-luxurious coupe will be produced, ensuring you’ll be the only Wall Street banker on your block with a car like this.

The special edition Phantom Coupé Aviator pays tribute to the company’s co-founder Charles Stewart Rolls and the 1930’s Supermarine S6B racing seaplane that was powered by a Rolls-Royce “R Type” engine.

Right after releasing images and information on the 2013 A3 Sportback, Audi released images of the all-new 2013 S3 Hatchback.  Like the Sportback, the S3 hatch will be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

The S3 hatchback looks very similar to the A3 with the S-Line package; of course it’s missing a couple of doors.  The only difference I can see is the added elements (winglets) in two air-scoops on the front bumper.

I’ve written hundreds of posts on cars on Unfinished Man and a few other websites, and most of them have focused on high-end cars that most of us will probably never buy.  So I thought I’d write a post for the average man that still enjoys speed – a list of affordable sports cars.  And by affordable, I don’t mean sub-20k cars because those don’t exist anymore and the dollar isn’t what it used to be.  The 5 affordable cars featured in this post are all priced below $50,000 and are in no particular order.

Another day, another tuned Land Rover Defender.  This time we focus, once again, on Startech, the company that brought us the very popular Land Rover Defender Yachting.  Startech’s latest creation is the Land Rover Defender Series 3.1 Concept, a retro tune on the Defender to make it look like the Land Rover Series 3, produced between 1971 and 1984.

The Startech Defender Series 3.1 does have that classic look from the front, the tuners put in a new grill that’s inspired by the classic Series 3 trucks and the front features modern-day LED day-time running lights.  Other retro visual upgrades includes a set of heavy duty steel wheels that would feel right at home on a 70’s and 80’s trucks.

When it comes to vehicles and girls, I feel that Europeans get access to all the good ones and North Americans are given the left overs. North Americans are only recently started to enjoy tiny, pocket rocket cars while Europe has had them for decades. For example, this cool looking Citroen DS3 manufactured by the French. The company just revealed a special edition version of the DS3 for the UK market and are simply calling it “Red”.

The all-new Citroen DS3 Red is based on the DSport and DStyle trim levels but feature custom styling cues and additional equipment which is not available on the standard models. Believe it or not, the DS3 Red is only available in Polar White paint or an optional Perla Nera Black paint job. All the DS3 Red models feature red accents inside and outside of the vehicle such as the front grille, side view mirrors, roof, and dashboard just to name a few.

We’re fans of the Audi RS5 Cabriolet and the A5 in general but it’s a real shame that North Americans don’t have access to the Audi A5 Sportback sedan which was released in Europe in the summer of 2011. I love the lines on the car and the performance can be great depending on the engine you go with. But with tuning companies like ABT Sportsline, they can never be satisfied with ‘stock’ and have come up with an upgrade package that enhances cosmetics, handling, and the engine.

For the entry-level engine, ABT’s kit increases the A5’s 1.8-liter TFSI engine from 168hp to a respectable 208hp. The 2.0-liter petrol engine goes from 208hp to 266 which is more than plenty for most and chances are, will never even put it to good use. The massive gains occur with the 3.0-liter TSFI with an increase from 268hp to an impressive 375hp. That should be plenty of power to get you to the grocery store and back before the commercial break is over during your favorite TV show.

Regular readers of Unfinished Man know how much I love the Land Rover Defender and how much I wish it was available in North America.  Even though it’s an outdated car and behaves like a pig on the road, it’s its off-road capabilities that make it world-famous.  The Defender was available here for a few years but only with gasoline engines, which were incredibly bad on gas (and therefore, the wallet); and that’s why Land Rover is experimenting with the Defender Electric model.