Awesome Rides

Celebrating Maserati’s Indy win 70 years ago, the Quattroporte Sport GT S eschews visual cues for a 4.7L V8 with 433hp, throaty exhaust, stiffer springs and single rate dampers.

Project Kahn’s tricked-out Lotus Elise gets all the usual aero-kit niceties, but the real goods are improved performance, with a billet exhaust, sports springs and 28-stage dampers.

We’ve been nonchalant about the Dodge Challenger’s retro stylings, but these LeMans GT racing renders by the custom car designers at Vizualtech bring the musclecar to life.

Volvo’s staid design language takes a backseat with this 2010 Volvo S60 concept, due to bow at the Detroit Auto Show; an angular fascia + high shoulder line = sporty Swedes.

Their time might be better spent avoiding a bailout, but checkout these Ford, Nissan, Bentley and Rolls-Royce proposals for futuristic, revamped versions of Santa’s Sleigh.

Get your racing helmets ready: the windshield-less McLaren SLR Stirling Moss will debut in Detroit, with a top speed of 217mph, a 650hp 5.5L V8 and retractable air brake.

The winner of 2008’s Good Design Award, the Vandenbrink GTO is a Dutch creation with gorgeous Italian lines and the soul of an American musclecar; it’s got 750hp under the hood.

With a spaghetti western setup followed by trippy euro beats, Anders Backman’s video of the Gotland Ring in Sweden is pure automotive sex; Lambos and Porsches never looked so good.

Wild and vulgar in all the right ways, the Danish-designed Zenvo ST1 is an angular beast with the chops to back it up: it’s powered by a turbo- and supercharged 7.0L V8 with 1,104hp.

The 2010 BMW Z4 is now official: we think it’s a modest step up from the last model, with a wider, more aggressive front end, “eyelid” headlights and both hard and soft-top versions.

Sporting a hot blue color scheme above, Ford’s Focus RS is making the leap to North American shores soon; this pocket rocket currently sports a 296bhp engine with 0-60 in 6 seconds.

Powered by a Honda 999cc V-twin with a top speed of 145 mph, this Hawk concept may be sized like a Smart car but is flat out sexy, with three 19″ alloy wheels and a fighter-jet canopy.

Bicyclists need not be excluded from the ski slopes with Ktrak’s Rear Drive Kit; it’ll bolt onto your existing mountain bike frame, adding a ski up front and a track system behind.

Engineered by the SpaceShipOne team, the ICON A5 is designed for recreational flying; it’s able to land on water, features wings that fold away and runs on unleaded.

Maserati’s MC Sport Line offers a slew of carbon fiber add-ons (seen above on their GT S). It’s mostly for show, although their suspension kit stiffens springs and lowers the ride by 10mm.

With a Lambo-sourced 5.2L engine, Audi’s R8 V10 is one of their most powerful production cars, and we believe it: the beast drives 552hp and 391 lb-ft torque to the wheels.