Flamboyance GT

                     True story. The other day, I was walking along, in my own world, filled with thoughts. Then, something happened. It shook my nerves. It sent a chill accompanied by a shiver down my spine. It was a roar. It was a thunderous bark followed by a wail. A wail filled with emotion. It was amazingly angry and determined, yet so lamentingly touching. This is how I would like to describe the symphony played by a Lamborghini Aventador. It is one thing to hear an Aventador in videos, but beholding the bellow of 12 petrified pistons in real life... Well, all I can say is, it is on a different planet. Truly, it is one of the most amazing things you can hear in life, apart from the "yes!" Of course. But sound apart, why not take a look at the car itself? Particularly the 1st gen one. Why? You'll know in a bit. Keep reading... A legendary V12 engine utilized for over half a century has been laid in its grave. A new one ...

Attribution :  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ytak171 Meccanica Verghera Agusta. That name is an Italian legend. It was founded by a Royal Italian Family with a passion for motorbikes and racing. It was the brainchild of Count Vincent and Domenico Agusta. Funded by an aviation company founded back in the 20s by Count Giovanni Agusta, MV Agusta was founded by an ambitious plan. A need for affordable transportation in post war Italy. The bikes MV Agusta created were modified and were famous all over Italy for being competitive on the track. This started a history of racing for the MV Agusta brand. But all good things in life inevitably come to an end. It did, with the death of Count Domenico in 1971. MV underwent a downward spiral . The brand was ceasing production facing heavy losses and low demand. And by 1980, the MV Augusta brand, famous for their passion for bikes, was officially dead. But there has to be a faint source of light towards the end of a tunnel, shou...

When it comes to iconic film cars, one overshadows the rest. One overpowers the rest. One crushes the rest. I'm talking about the Aston Martin DB5, which starred in Goldfinger and Thunderball, piloted to stardom by Sir Sean Connery. It is classy. It is exactly what you would expect from an Aston Martin. A gentleman's express. But something more important. It's bold. I'll tell you what I mean. Take a look at it. To some eyes, It may be beautiful, and to some others, maybe not so much. But one aspect is common for both of these types of beholders. The DB5 is a bold design move, which turned out just right. It has a properly classic English straight six displacing 4 litres. It is a beating heart well ahead of its time. Why? Nearly 300 English ponies in 1963 was absolutely unheard of, in a road car. Think about it. Bond would have required all of it. Now, let's put this in perspective. The Lamborghini Miura , which was unveiled to shocked, yet delighted eyes thre...

Times have changed. It has been a decade since the exciting unveiling of "The world's cheapest car". A mistake of massive proportions right there itself. There have been very good reasons why the Tata Nano would go on to never achieve the success it was made for. What Tata has done with the Nano has been rather interesting. A bare bones small, or rather miniscule car with a 650cc twin cylinder beating heart, powering it through 4 gears with both a manual and a surprising automatic method of choosing between them. It was a car with a distinct personality. It was weird and it was different. The engine was in the back, it was rear wheel drive and when the engine was ticking over, you knew it. You could hear both the imbalanced  pistons working hard, struggling through life, but never even thinking of giving up. They are like a couple, who were always there for each other, working harmoniously together, albeit the sorrows they had to face and still face brings pain. T...

Its the year 1973. Pininfarina, the famous Italian design house was upset. Its longtime partner, Ferrari had gotten rival studio, Bertone to design one of its most iconic models, the 308. Why was it iconic? It was the first rear mid engined Ferrari with a 3 litre V8 engine. But that is for another story. I'm here to talk about the 308's sweet sidekick, the 208. Unveiled at Geneva in 1975, the 208 GT4 was... well, different. Who could have guessed a V8 engined sports car displacing a puny 2 litres would ever be made? That too, by Ferrari? Well, its the world's smallest V8 engine put in a production car till now. Everyone who drove it obviously couldn't resist comparing it with its more powerful cousin, the 308. While it was obviously packing much lesser power, it turns out that the tiny 2 litre engine was actually better. Apparently, the baby powerplant sounded much more alive and sweeter than its larger sibling and as a whole, it was much more of a satisfying ex...

I love TVR. TVRs are just unlike anything else. They are different. They are effective. The traditional formula has always been rather simple. A lightweight fibreglass body coupled with a monster of an engine and a chassis which makes sure it burns an abyss in your wallet. But its not just that. TVRs were just, silly. They were flamboyant. They looked amazing, but were never poser cars. They were handmade for a true sports car enthusiast who did not want to spend his money on a Ferrari, but on something which provided more bang for your buck. Unfortunately to the dismay of us petrolheads, they ended up shutting down. But the days we waited for all along have finally arrived. TVR is back. Soon, their new model would start rolling off of the production line. They named it, "Griffith" after an already successful model earlier. (It would be my pleasure to sketch and write about that one.) Ok, so the new Griffith. I have to say that it keeps things traditional, TVR style...

                          Before the first XF came Jaguar had a reputation for building cars which were a fusion of old school "classiness" and modern technology. But there was this one car which was different. This one specifically had that "something" about it. I'm talking about the XK8 built between 1996 and 2006. This one was just stunningly beautiful. Let's speak the truth here. The design has aged beautifully like fine wine from the fields of Tuscany. I do definitely see some Aston Martin inspiration here. That's because both the XK8 and the popular and successful DB7 were based on an old F-Type design they had, just "lying around". This is amusing because all of these machines which were based on the F-Type ended up so much more sensual to behold than the F-Type itself launched in 2013. But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this is just my personal opinion. Before I get carried away, let ...

A key to the left of the steering wheel is turned. Six cylinders roar to life, yet smooth as butter thanks to the flat configuration. But here, there is one historical difference. All 911s before had flat sixes which were kept from going pop, with air. But then came the 996 which did so with water instead. This single reason made some purists hate it because of uncontrolled sentiment. But why did they hate it so much though? Go ahead and read the first sentence. Well, true automotive enthusiasts would understand that at a certain point, air can only cool an engine so much. There was simply too much power here to be cooled by just air. Also while it is true that a water cooled system is heavier and bulkier, cooling components in the front improve weight distribution, in turn improving the car's handling. Now, is it really bulky? They managed to fit the entire thing into a rather small car with a small rear (No pun intended). Enter the new "fried egg" headlamps. Sur...

BMW is the company that has a reputation for building rather excellent track toys as well as comfortable expresses with practicality and economy in mind. All of that sounds great, but the cars never seem to have a unique feel to them. You know what I mean, they never were truly exotic, apart from a few classics. All that changed when the 8 series was unveiled in the 1990s. Let's discuss design. There is something so right about it. It is very exotic and pure while still managing to look very, very BMW. The lines are smooth and clean. The popup headlamps, specifically on this one are a marvel to behold in terms of aesthetics. The interior can be described as extremely function oriented crossed with cracking luxury for its time. BMW offered 2 flavours for us to savour what was under that long hood. A thumping 4 litre V8 and a silky smooth 5 litre V12. There was also an uprated 4.4 litre V8 and a performance oriented 5.6 litre V12 in the 850 CSI. Honestly speaking, both the V8...

Following the success of the iconic DB7 which saved Aston Martin from bankruptcy,  the V12 Vanquish was launched. The car obviously gained fame starring with James Bond in Die Another Day, but mysteriously "vanquished" itself into secrecy. Why? The launch of the DB9 was met with the Vanquish being overshadowed. Suddenly, the public beheld a new car that looked more modern and had smoother lines, had a much better and elegant interior and a transmission without a short temper all for a much cheaper price!  Till to this day, the very fact that Aston Martin allows their "baby" V12 grand tourer to dominate its own flagship baffles everyone. The interesting thing is that this same thing happened with the DB11 and the second gen Vanquish. Built at the Newport Pagnell assembly line, Aston Martin's halo car utilized the V12 in the DB7, created by gluing together two V6s from the Ford Mondeo using a little bit of Elmer's and gaffer tape. This same V12 went on t...