Supercars For The Rich & Famous

Bentley Batur and Ducati Diavel for Bentley

Beatific Beauties

In December, Bentley and Ducati teamed up to create 500 limited-edition Ducati Diavel for Bentley Mulliner motorbikes — 50 of which are reserved for Bentley customers — and 18 Bentley Batur cars, to be handcrafted by Mulliner, the oldest coachbuilder in the world, and Bentley’s in-house bespoke division. Naturally, the mightiest Bentley was chosen for the association. Bentley Batur, with six-litre 750PS twin-turbo W12 engine, is the marque’s most powerful car. The engine will be matched to a Bentley chassis with speed-tuned air suspension, electric active anti-roll control, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. Named after Lake Batur, a crater lake on the island of Bali, it combines Bentley craftsmanship with a sculptured, muscular bodywork embodying a new design direction conceived by director of design Andreas Mindt that will inform Bentley’s future battery electric vehicles. Both Diavel for Bentley and Bentley Batur in this collaboration are in metallic Scarab Green colour with aggressive lines of Diavel V4 a reflection of Batur’s features.

Price: £2 million (approx) for Bentley Batur

Rolls-Royce Spectre

Electric Dreams

It’s the world’s first ultra-luxury electric coupé. Rolls-Royce Spectre, the outcome of a 2021 decision by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to make its entire marque electric by 2030, was launched in October at its home in West Sussex, England. “It’s our most dynamic model yet, positioned between Cullinan and Phantom,” says Ivan Kang, product manager, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Asia-Pacific. “This two-door coupé is a true four-seater and high on comfort.” Rolls-Royce Spectre can be driven for 530 kms on single charge and goes from 1-100 in 4.4 seconds. It has the largest wheels and the widest grille in the history of the marque (23 or 22 inch). Roll-Royce Motor Cars gives you 34,000 colours to choose from. Still, if you can’t find one you like, they will customise one for you. “We can even name a colour after you,” says Ivan.

Price: Starts at ₹7.5 crore

Aston Martin Valhalla

Defying Gravity

The supersonic-looking mid-engine Valhalla, a result of brainstorming by the best of Formula 1 experts, will be limited to 999 models. “It’s a great advantage to have access to the unique skills and knowledge of a Formula 1 team,” says Aston Martin Performance Technologies Engineering Director Claudio Santoni. Those who gave inputs included AMF1 racing drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Valhalla is aerodynamic. A comparative look at the underbody of AMR23 race car and Valhalla, where most of its downforce is generated, shows how much F1 technology has gone into the supercar. It is made from carbon fibre materials and technology used to make a race car. Its twin-turbo flat-plane V8 engine (the highest-performing V8 engine ever fitted into an Aston Martin), when combined with three e-motors, creates a 1,012 PS hybrid all-wheel drive hybrid powertrain.

Price: $8,00,000 (approx)

Ferrari 296 GTS

Flying Spider

The most fun to drive Ferrari would be Ferrari 296 GTS. This is the first Ferrari road spider (this means it comes with a Retractable Hard Top or RHT) with rear-wheel drive plug-in hybrid architecture, which has an internal combustion engine integrated with a rear-mounted electric motor. The electric motor boosts the maximum power of the Ferrari 296 GTS to a category-topping 830 CV.

Sound-wise, the V6 engine rewrites the rulebook by combining force of the turbos with harmony of high-frequency notes of a naturally-aspirated V12. Design-wise, 296 GTS emphasises clean, sophisticated lines of 296 GTB. The RHT has a tonneau design, while the engine bay lies flat, dominated by two flying buttresses, the brainchild of Flavio Manzoni, head of the Ferrari Styling Centre team. What boosts the car’s performance are features such as six-way Chassis Dynamic Sensor and ABS EVO controller. Ferrari 296 GTS can go up to 330 km/h and can reach 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds.

Price: ₹6.24 crore onwards

Koenigsegg Gemera

A Four-Seater Megacar

A quiet revolution is taking place in the Swedish town of Angelholm. The newly finished Gripen Atelier, spread over 11,000 sq. mts., has become the birthplace of a powerhouse, the Client Specification Gemera. This one-megawatt Gemera is bound to set “new benchmarks as the world’s first four-seater Megacar,” says Koenigsegg founder and CEO Christian von Koenig.

The carmakers switched from Direct Drive system to Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission (LSTT), which gives superlative driver excitement through removal of flywheel and clutch from the engine. LSTT accommodates four seats, a mid-engine position, electric propulsion and still provides nine gears, torque vectoring and four-wheel drive. The R&D team has also developed Dark Matter E-motor (800 hp, 1,250 Nm), which it claims is the world’s most powerful automotive grade E-motor with six-phase technology.

The company will also launch a Koenigsegg Gemera HV8 (Hot V8) version that will put V8 where the exhaust sits, at the top centre, giving it an astounding 1,500 hp from HV8 in addition to the 800 hp provided by the Dark Matter E-motor, giving a total of 2,300 hp and 2,750 Nm torque, a world record for a production car. Gemera production will start at 2024-end.

Price: To be announced

McLaren GTS

On-The-Go Supercar

A vision of beauty and power, the new McLaren GTS combines supercar driving experience with daily usability and comfort. This super-lightweight carbon fibre construction centre on a monocoque chassis has a superb power to weight ratio (418 PS per tonne).

GTS is aerodynamic. Its distinctive front ‘hammerhead’ styling features a new lower bumper section. Air intakes are wider to channel more air into the radiator system. The rear fenders are taller and allow for more air inside the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 M840TE engine (635PS at 7,500 rpm). Top speed is 326 km/h and it goes from 0-100 km in 3.2 seconds.

The seven-speed transmission gives seamless shifts and brisk acceleration. One can drive in two modes — Sport is dramatic with aggressive gearshifts while Track gives minimal loss of torque between shifts. One can easily switch to manual mode with aluminium-covered steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The inside, of course, has all the mod-cons: upholstered seats with Nappa leather trim, 10.25-inch digital instrument display, seven-inch infotainment system, a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, plus alloy wheels and special Pirelli P ZERO tyres. The supercar comes in a new colour, Lava Grey.

Price: To be announced

BMW Z4 M40i

Raging Roadster

The BMW Roadster comes from the German automaker that promises ‘unadulterated driving pleasure.’ BMW Z4 M40i combines elegance of a roadster with athleticism of an M automobile. The Cerium Grey BMW Kidney Grille sports a horizontal design, large air intakes and vertically aligned LED headlights with a long bonnet that pours over the wheels.

Performance-wise, MBW Z4 M40i is a blend of sports car and two-seater convertible. The petrol engine, thanks to BMW’s TwinPower Turbo Technology and three-litre, six-cylinder in-line engine, gives instantaneous response, appetite for revs and smoothness. The engine produces 250 kW/340 hp and maximum torque of 500 Nm at 1,600-4,500 rpm, making the car go from 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.

Price: ₹89,30,000