Description
Contents: Wild Things (A muscle-bound Yank and an absurdly powerful French-Speaking German have combined propulsion of nearly 1,500 bhp, a collective top speed of more than 400 mph and a total price approaching $1,250,000); Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible (Ol’ Shel’ mentors some of Ford’s finest young engineers in devising a Mustang worthy of his moniker. Whether coupe, or like ours, a convertible, the GT500 positively rumbles with value); Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (Superlatives fall readily to hand in describing the Veyron 16.4 (as in 16 cylinders and 4 turbochargers). This hyper-exotic even has a special preflight check for speeds in excess of 233 mph); Anatomy Of A Veyron 16.4 (Our newest contributing editor certainly knows his way around exotic machinery, including his own. We ask Gordon Murray to analyze the Bugatti Veyron, both technically and stylistically) Road Tests – Dodge Charger R/T (It’s Mercedesstrasse as well as Woodward Avenue in this 21st-Century take on the domestic muscle car. Our man Rusz samples an original ’69 Charger too and pronounces them both great stomping fun); Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged (Forced induction gives power and torque a 30-percent boost in this new variant of the LK3 platform. Think of it as 8/10ths of Land Rover’s luxury SUV, with 12-10ths of its on- and off-road capabilities); Road Test Update: Pontiac Grand Prix GXP & Scion tC Supercharged (New juice (and lots of it) in an old bottle, Pontiac’s Grand Prix gets a small-bore variant of the Corvette’s Gen IV V-8. The Scion tC sports a 25-percent kick from its TRD Supercharger) First Drives – Buick Lucerne (Adieu, LeSabre, Goodbye, Park Avenue, Welcome Lucerne. The name is Swiss, but the ambience is domestic with Germanic overtones, all intended to draw young professionals back into the Buick fold); Hyundai Azera (No longer promoted on price alone, this latest Hyundai replaces the XG350 with a much more contemporary competirtor to Toyota’s Avalon and Nissan’s Maxima, and still at thousands less); Saab 9-5 (Saab’s large sedan solves a midlife crisis with a freshening as well as a SportCombi wagon sibling. Both sport 260 bhp of turbo power and exemplary driving dynamics honed on Swedish back roads) Features – Road & Track Readers’ Choice Award: Best Car 2006 (The ballets are counted and, once more, we’re proud to say our readers know their cars. This year’s voting identified an immensely capable sports car from Detroit and another from Maxanello); Salt Licks (GM takes its trendy HHR people-hauler to Bonneville Salt Flats; there, to haul, er…uh…other than people. Unmuffled side pipes, an ice-water-chilled turbo and 110-octane gasoline take part) Technical – Racing Fuels – When do the racing fuels of Champ Co., Formula 1, IRL, Le Mans, NHRA Top Fuelers and WRC, all have in common? Utterly nothing, except a propensity to ignite on demand in a big way) Columns – On The Road: Gordon Murray Joins The Team (Gordon Murray is the designer of the McLaren F1, the Rocket and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have his views on the Bugatti Veyron 16.1? We thought so too); Ampersand: Tokyo Treats (Our Tokyo attendees lament the lack of glitz but admit there was more substance. Tokyo 2005 shows us what’s coming in ’06, ’07 and ’08, not just what’s fashionable bling in ’05); Side Glances: Extinguishing The Midnight Oil (With age comes wisdom. Or, if not exactly wisdom, what comes is an increasing lack of enthusiasm for crawling beneath faulty machinery and ingesting caffeeine-laced diet soft drinks deep into the night); Tech Tidbits: Plugging Into The Hybrid Craze? (“Loving a hybrid is never having to plug it in.” Or maybe not. Plus, a new technical treatise from SAE answers questions about engines that none of us were clever enough to ask); Sport: The Year In Photos (Our talented photographers were busy at racing venues around the world, from Formula 1 to Indy to WRC to NASCAR. When they’re this good, they’re rightly called “images”, not “happy snaps”); Pole Position: Snoozemakers (Driver interviews haven’t been exactly scintillating, have they? What’s worse, when they get, shall we say, colorful, the sanctioning bodies get shitty about it. Here’s a suggestion for changing all that) Departments – Your Turn; People, Places & Things; Technical Correspondence; Road Test Summary; Finish Line; Time & Place; PS
Issue: January 2006
Condition: Very Good