: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Oh sure, we're all for alt-fuel green cars. Hybrids? Love 'em. EVs? We'll take two. Hydrogen? Show us where to get the stuff, and we're there. But there's something to be said for being pushed back into butter-soft, hand-stitched leather as you hurtle toward the horizon at absurd velocity. Here then are our picks for the 10 cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show that will do just that.
Left: Gumpert Apollo
If "limited edition" isn't limited enough, Gumpert has the car for you. The boutique supercar maker is sending just 10 of the race-ready rides to America next year. They start at $485,000, but we'll take the top-of-the-line $850,000 model, because why wouldn't you want every one of the 850 horsepower you get with it?
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
If you have to ask, you'll never understand.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
It's not the flashiest car around. The doors don't flip upward. It isn't covered in carbon fiber. And most people won't have any idea what it is. But the DBS is just so quintessentially British that way. It's got a 6.0-liter V12, it'll hit 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, and it tops out at 191 mph. When you're that good, you can afford to be understated.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
It's got more scoops than Baskin-Robbins and more bling than Flavor Flav, so you'd be forgiven for thinking it's something of a joke. But this Dutch rocket with a racing pedigree produces 400 horsepower, does 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 187 mph. So the joke's on you.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Lotus is one of the most-storied names in sports cars, and those who have driven them love them. If you haven't driven one, now's the time to start.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Eeenie, meenie, miney, mo … oh, just pick one. You can't go wrong.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
From the gleaming chrome hood ornament and 500-horsepower twin-turbo V8 to the diamond-quilted leather interior (choose from one of 25 different kinds) and jeweled fuel cap, everything about the Azure T is decadently, sensuously luxurious. And for $350,000, it damn well better be.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Yes, there are faster Porsches. Yes, there are more-expensive Porsches. And yes, there are Porsches that will run circles around the Boxster. But we just love this scene.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
The R8 is stereotypically German — beautifully engineered, ruthlessly efficient and exceptionally quick. It isn't as good as you've heard; it's better. Everyone should have one.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
For burning rubber, doing donuts and blowing the doors off anything short of a Gumpert Apollo, nothing beats the 638-horsepower Corvette ZR1. It's a muscle car on steroids and the best 'Vette ever. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, nothing beats it.
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