This is not your ordinary Top 5. After some head scratching, contemplating, deliberating, and more scratching of heads, we decided that this month would be somewhat… different. No budget(y) vehicles with interesting names, nor tax-friendly vehicles with turbos can be found on these pages. There’s also no acronymic safety gibberish, so don’t expect to hear the usual rhyme of ABS, EBD, or BAS. And, how about fuel consumption? No way. So, you might ask, if not consumer savvy advice, what then?
This month, we opted instead to compile a list of our five favourite cars that we can’t have. The criteria? Well, it’s simple really; if it can drive, it has all the necessary wheels, and we can see it as a bedroom poster for our younger selves, it made the list. It’s that simple.
5. ASTON MARTIN DB11 VOLANTE
Sure, the champagne colour of this specific DB11 might not tickle everyone’s palette, but the audible sensations courtesy of the AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine will undeniably put a ridiculous smirk on your face.
See, Aston’s DB range is not made for zero to hold-on-to-your-hair times, nor is it truly great at being thrown into an apex. Instead, these GT cars are made for the open road where the engine burble can be appreciated to its fullest, and the scenery serves to complement the sweeping lines on the bodywork.
Add an open-top experience, though, and it suddenly becomes the holy grail of driving.
DB11 VOLANTE SPECIFICATIONS
POWER (kW @ r/min): 375
TORQUE (Nm @ r/min): 675
0-100 KM/H (seconds): 4.0
PRICE: Around R2,800,000
4: NISSAN GT-R50 BY ITALDESIGN
Fifty is a significant number, by any measure. So, when Nissan celebrates 50 years of its GT-R in 2019, and it calls in the automotive dream factory otherwise known as Italdesign – that also happens to celebrate 50 years – you can only imagine the result.
This figment of the imagination is known as the GT-R50 and just looking at it we can tell that it incorporates everything we love about the GT-R nameplate, with some added allure, thanks to a liberal helping of pencil magic from the Italian design house.
Casually mentioning the 530-kilowatt savagery of the GT-R, the Japanese carmaker hinted at a limited number of handcrafted GT-Rs that will be crafted using the 50 as a blueprint.
GT-R50 SPECIFICATIONS
POWER (kW @ r/min): 530
TORQUE (Nm @ r/min): 780
0-100 KM/H (seconds): 2.5 seconds (estimated)
PRICE: Priceless
3. DODGE CHALLENGER HELLCAT REDEYE
It’s a pity that FCA’s Dodge brand has shelved plans for a right-hook version of its Challenger throwback pony-car. This means that we’re not likely to see the hell-raising 2019 derivatives of the SRT nameplate. This includes the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, described by Dodge as both its ‘quickest and most powerful production muscle car’. That’s beside the limited-edition Demon, of course…
The supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi V8 in the flagship Hellcat Redeye delivers 594 kW and 959 Nm of torque, giving it a zero to 100 km/h sprint ability of just 3.4 seconds.
Mated to a TorqueFlite 8HP90 eight-speed automatic transmission, the Hellcat Redeye runs a 400 m-time of 10.8 seconds (at 209,2 km/h) and can attain a top speed of 326,7 km/h.
That’s supercar quick, and with the final Demon produced, it makes the Hellcat Redeye Widebody a very desirable piece of automotive kit.
SRT HELLCAT REDEYE SPECIFICATIONS
POWER (kW @ r/min): 594 kW
TORQUE (Nm @ r/min): 959 Nm
0-100 KM/H (seconds): 3.4
PRICE: R940,000 +
2. MCLAREN 600LT
It’s back, and it is blisteringly quick. It’s the latest McLaren to wear the Longtail badge and only the fourth in more than two decades.
The F1 GTR ‘Longtail’ was the first in the line of the LT lineage when the 675LT resurrected the revered name. And like these titans, the 600LT is built to excel on both roads and race circuits alike. IT has all the hallmarks of a true ‘Longtail’, including a 74 mm longer silhouette, an extended front splitter, lengthened rear diffuser and fixed rear wing.
With a lightweight carbon fibre monocoque chassis and carbon fibre bodywork, the vehicle’s weight is lowered by 96 kg.
Powered by a V8 twin-turbo 3.8-litre engine with an uprated cooling system and reduced exhaust back pressure, peak power output is 441 kW with maximum torque of 620 Nm, giving a power-to-weight ratio at a lightest dry weight of 354 kW/tonne.
600LT SPECIFICATIONS
POWER (kW @ r/min): 441 kW
TORQUE (Nm @ r/min): 620 Nm
0-100 KM/H (seconds): 2.9
PRICE: R3,160,000 +
1. PAGANI HUAYRA
This is as good as it gets for any petrol head. Named after the Incan god of wind, the Pagani Huayra (Hoi-ra) is the amassing result of Pagani founder, Horacio Pagani’s vast expertise in engineering coupled to one of the most brutal powertrains around.
The Huayra, as it’s commonly referred to, is powered by a Mercedes-AMG V12 twin-turbo 6.0-litre engine that produces more than 500 kW and 1,000 Nm of torque.
Power output, and specifically that of the Huayra, is only one side of the coin though. It also cuts through the air using aerodynamic components that continuously change based on downforce and drag requirements, attesting to the engineering and aerodynamic marvel that is this hypercar.
HUAYRA SPECIFICATIONS
POWER (kW @ r/min): 562 kW
TORQUE (Nm @ r/min): 1,000 Nm
0-100 KM/H (seconds): 2.7
PRICE: R30,000,000 +
