Autos

Mercedes-Benz finally took the wraps off the hotly anticipated SLS AMG Roadster yesterday.  The roadster loses one of the “main-attractions” of the coupe, the gullwing doors, which were loved by most automobile journalists we talked to and gave the car a connection to the original gullwing car.

Although the car loses the gullwing doors and its top, Mercedes engineers worked hard to keep everything else as close as possible to the coupe.  With the roof gone, the chassis had to be stiffened with extra bracing but only 88 pounds of weight was gained compared to the SLS AMG coupe.  The three-layer soft top is made out of a material that combined the use of magnesium, steel, and aluminum and is available in beige, black or red colors and can be operated at speeds of up to 31 miles per hour (50 km/h), the opening and closing process takes just 11 seconds.

Last year I wrote about the luxurious Startech Land Rover Defender 90 Yachting Edition, that post was extremely popular but there were a few people whining about why someone would make a luxury Defender; I said, WHY NOT!  I personally loved that Defender and am a big fan of the Vilner tuned Land Rover Defender pictured above.

The Land Rover Defender is one of the toughest SUV’s one can buy but it lacks in the luxury department; if you are a true Unfinished Man, you’ll know the importance of luxury, even in the most rugged vehicles.  That was the thinking a Russian business man had, he must be a regular Unfinished Man reader, he wanted his Defender to stand out from the crowd and provide him with true luxury that one would find in a Range Rover, so  he commissioned Vilner to do up his Defender.

I’m a huge fan of the Ferrari 458 Italia supercar, and Anderson Germany is one of my favorite car tuning companies, so naturally you’d think I’d be in love with the Anderson Germany Ferrari 458 Italia Carbon Edition.  I’m not; I like it, but I’m just not sure why I don’t love it.  It is a nice car – but seems a bit over the top, maybe?

The tuned 458 Italia comes with a lot of carbon fiber parts, hence the name.  The German tuners added the following carbon fiber parts: front lip spoiler, front bumper flaps, front bumper vents, wider side-skirts, rear spoiler, and rear air inlets and outlets.  That’s a lot of carbon fiber pieces, but wait, there’s more!

My cousin was big into modelling. One day, while looking at his model collection of military aircraft and ships, he showed me a picture and description of the next model he wanted to buy and build. “It’s a Q ship- very cool,” he told me. Hmm; this was a ship that I had never heard of before, and remembering it now inspires me to tell you about my favorite sleeper cars from the muscle era.

The BMW 6-Series is a very conservative looking coupe. Its performance oriented sibling, the all-new 2013 M6, does have a bit more of an aggressive look to it but it’ll knock your socks off when it comes to performance.

BMW just announced the 2013 M6 Coupe and Convertible and will be unveiling them to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March and New York Auto Show in April.  The M6 is pretty much an M5 with 2 doors and identical performance figures.  The 2013 BMW M6 is powered by the same turbocharged 4.4 liter V8 engine that’s found in the M5 with identical 560 horsepower and

German tuner, ABT, has come up with some pretty amazing tuning packages for various Audi models and their latest product is for the all-new Audi Q3 crossover. ABT’s package, QS3, helps the 2.0 liter TDI diesel product 203hp which is respectable improvement from the stock 174hp. The numbers are even more impressive when we look at the package for the 2.0 liter TFSI petrol that put down 267hp compared to the stock 208hp.

Other modifications for ABT’s QS3 include Springs & Shocks package as well as larger wheels ranging in sizes from 18-inches to 21-inches with performance tires.

BMW has been producing the Z3 roadster (currently called Z4 roadster) since 1996 and each roadster model later had a hard-top coupe version.  The latest Z4 roadster, however, came with a hard-top convertible, leaving many wondering if there will be a Z4 coupe and whether there is a point to having a coupe.  The answer to the first question is yes (kind of).

BMW teamed up the famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato to create the BMW Zagato Coupe concept based on the Z4 roadster, the car will be unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at Lake Como in Italy.