Modifying an exotic car is different than modifying your average daily driver. There’s so much craftsmanship and engineering instilled within each body panel that it almost seems sacrilegious to alter it. You’re changing a work of art, after all. In other words, if you’re going to take a sharpie to the Mona Lisa, you better mean it.
Spanish design house Bengala Automotive means it. The firm has just debuted its F12 Caballeria supercar online, which starts out in life as a Ferrari F12berlinetta. Inspired by Ferrari’s racecars, the Caballeria forgoes the epic GT3 rear wing but features plenty of extreme aerodynamic enhancements all over its body, which is fashioned completely from carbon fiber. The overall design is far more violent and aggressive than the original Ferrari, and the added vents on the hood and rear fenders are nice touches. One thing’s for sure — the F12 Caballeria is a car to get noticed in.
“Uniqueness is in most cases a state of mind, while most people fail to understand the meaning of it very few people get a taste of the irreplaceable reality the word brings to those who earn it,” Bengala said on the car’s release. “We mastered and created a unique piece of design and engineering and ten exclusive individuals earned it, the Bengala F12 Caballeria.”
Bengala didn’t mention whether or not there had been alterations to the Berlinetta’s 6.3-liter V12 (we’re guessing not), but either way, 730 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque will just have to do. 0 to 60 mph and top speed figures should be unchanged from the Ferrari at 3.1 seconds and 211 mph, respectively.
Read more: Ferrari abandons manual transmissions, says they don’t perform as well
As the brand hints, just 10 examples of the Caballeria will be produced for a to-be-announced price, and we have yet to hear confirmation that those buyers have been chosen. Production is expected to begin in summer 2017.
Volkswagen’s newest EVs in China are making its American and European models look unusually conservative.
With Xpeng’s help, VW has introduced 800-volt charging and advanced urban driving assistance. The new VEGA technology package brings its locally developed vehicle platforms and CEA electronic architecture under one umbrella. Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen intends to update VEGA every three months. Western buyers can find pieces of that package, but not the whole thing in a Volkswagen.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?