2007 Hyper-Cars: What’s New?

Ferrari…Lamborghini…Aston Martin? These are all child’s play when you put them next to a hyper-car; a different breed of supercar exclusively for the ultra-rich, usually costing over $350,000 or so. Ferrari makes one (the Enzo) and so does Porsche (Carrera GT,) but usually they are from car makers with names you don’t hear in normal conversation. Almost always made in very limited editions, you cannot turn to your car dealers or normal car review websites for information regarding these fantastic machines.

So for those who are familiar with these cars, how do you keep up on the news regarding them? Well, you turn here of course, at AutomoBlog.net Anyway, what’s the news on these cars? Read on…

Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Not only is this the most expensive production car ever made, it’s also the fastest (although a couple cars are giving it a run for it’s money, keep reading for those.) Priced at approximately $1,700,000 this car has a W-16 style engine with 4 (yes, that’s four) turbos, pushing an amazing 1001 hp. So what’s new for 2007? Absolutely nothing. Most of us will never see one in our lifetime anyway. Sorry to be a Negative Nancy on that one.

Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo

So what are the cars giving the Bugatti a challenge? The $589,950 Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo is one of them. Powered by a 750 hp twin-turbo V8, this funky looking car can rocket to 60 from a standstill in only 3.4 seconds. Still slow when compared to the Bugatti’s 0-60 time of 3 seconds flat, but a rocket-ship by any other standards. How does it do this with half the Bugatti’s cylinders and half the turbos? Well, partly because the Saleen only weighs 2950 lbs, while the Bugatti tips the scales at 4162 lbs. Plus, look at all the alien-looking vents on the S7, every one of those are functional.

Pagani Zonda F

The first time I saw the Pagani Zonda was actually on Gran Turismo 3 for the PlayStation 2 and I was instantly amazed. “Look at the exhaust, look at the two spoilers, the headlights, the shape” and so on. This car is awesome, and has only been getting better over the years. It’s ultra-rare, and costs anywhere from $614,268 to $719,644 at today’s exchange rate. The picture above is from the awesome Zonda F, with a Mercedes-built 650 hp V12 that helps the car move from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds. And in case you’re wondering, the Zonda F weighs 2711 lbs, less than even the Saleen S7 TT covered above.

Koenigsegg CCX

Last but not least in this story in the Koenigsegg CCX, quite the beast of a machine. I just posted an article about the lucky bastards from Autoblog getting to test drive this car, and I’m still jealous. Check it out here. It’s the most likely contender with the Bugatti Veyron, as it’s 0-60 time is only 3.1 seconds, weighs only 2601 lbs and has 806 hp from a Supercharged V8. It just came to America only to be sold at one dealer in Las Vegas for a measly $700,000. Out of all these cars, I would feel the most comfortable calling this one a bad-ass. The road test I saw from Top Gear was amazing, and that was from the 2002 Koenigsegg CC, not the recent CCX.

I know you’re saying “where is such-and-such car,” but I decided to stop here because these four cars were the most popular of the hyper-cars and are currently available for sale. There are a lot of cars in this category I would like to cover like the Enzo, Carrera GT, McLaren F1 and the Mercedes SLR, but they are older models and will be saved for another article.

Did I miss out on any you would have liked to see? What are some of the other hyper-cars from years past that you are a fan of?

Filed Under: Bugatti • Koenigsegg • List • Pagani • Saleen