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Performance cars old and new are headed to auction at Las Vegas Grand Prix

Auction house RM Sotheby's is hosting a sale ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix, and most of the lots that will cross the block were designed with performance in mind. Whether you want a supercar or a Formula One car, there's a chance you'll find it in Sin City. One of the highlights from the sale in terms of rarity and price is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04 that Lewis Hamilton drove in the 2013 F1 season. Assigned chassis number F1W04-04, it's the team's last car powered by a naturally-aspirated V8 engine, and you're on the wrong track if you're thinking of the 4.0-liter unit that powers AMG's road cars. The engine in question is a 2.4-liter unit that develops 750 horsepower and is capable of revving to a screaming 18,000 rpm. The KERS system injects 80 additional horses into the driveline. Hamilton drove F1W04-04 in 14 of the 2013 season's 19 races, and he won that year's Hungarian Grand Prix in the car. RM Sotheby's notes that F1W04-04 is "the sole example to be sold outside of the Mercedes-Benz organization," which explains why it expects the car will sell for anywhere between $10 million and $15 million excluding the buyer's fee and a 2.5% import duty that applies to American residents. That's a lot of money, but modern Formula One cars rarely come up for sale. Several other cars are expected to sell above the $1 million mark, including a 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR ($8 million to $9 million), a 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort ($1,650,000 to $1,850,000), and a 1996 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport ($2,500,000 to $3,250,000). The 1990 Ferrari F40 GT (one of 21 units built) could bring up to $4 million. You can take home a rare, high-end classic even if you cap your budget at $1 million. How about a 1984 Lamborghini Countach 5000 S that was delivered new to Ralph Lauren and that has been in the hands of its second owner since 1986? RM expects the coupe will sell for up to $900,000. The auction house is also giving enthusiasts two distinctly different ways to spend a six-digit sum on a 30-something-year-old Mercedes-Benz. There's a 1990 190E 2.5-16 Evolution with about 3,400 original miles that could fetch up to $700,000. That's a lot to pay for a W201, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill Baby Benz: It's one of 502 examples built for homologation purposes. Alternatively, the 1989 560SEC AMG 6.0 Wide-Body could sell for up to $900,000. It's one of the most emblematic cars designed by AMG before it joined Mercedes-Benz.

Phony Fauxrrari and Shamborghini replicas seized in Brazil

A shop in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil has been raided and shut down by police after it was discovered that it was turning out shoddy replica supercars. The Fauxrrari and Shamborghini (we borrowed the latter clever term from the Associated Press) copies themselves look impressively detailed considering that they were reportedly coming out of a father-son operation, but the engineering, underpinnings and powertrains are surely a wee bit shy of what's flowing out of the real factories in Italy. According to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, one replica was powered by the engine from a Chevrolet Omega, which we knew at one time in the U.S. as the Cadillac Catera. Scrolling through the image gallery above, though, we see at least one Ferrari knock-off that appears to have a bright red intake manifold behind the passenger compartment, so who knows? Police reported that the replicas were being offered on unknown social media channels for between $45,000 and $60,000. Needless to say, that's nowhere near the price of a real Ferrari or Lamborghini. And this isn't the first (and likely, not the last) time this has happened, either. According to the AP, the raid was conducted after at least one of the Italian marques tipped off authorities. Eight vehicles in various states of completion were found, along with tools, molds and what looks to be a treasure trove of car parts. It's not clear how many finished vehicles may have rolled out of the shop, or how many may already be in the hands of buyers. The father and son duo who ran the operation have been arrested on industrial property charges.

Lamborghini Huracan could become an 850-hp PHEV next year

So far, Lamborghini is celebrating 2022 with record sales and odes to the internal combustion engine thanks to a raft of special editions. The Italian automaker's plunge into electrification starts next year with the next-generation Huracan and its plug-in hybrid powertrain. Lamborghini's head of research and development said, "The engine will be bespoke for Lamborghini. On the final details we can’t yet communicate this, but I would say more than six and less than 12 cylinders for the combustion engine." The easy (well, easier...) option would be to tweak one of the Volkswagen Group's twin-turbo V8s to work with a pair or trio of electric motors. Auto Express says its sources suggest two bits of intel on that engine, the first being that it could be an in-house design "not sourced from VW Group," the second that combined output might exceed 850 horsepower. Such a theoretical coupe would be 169 horses more potent than the Huracan STO and easily satisfy Mohr's assertion that the new generation "from the performance point of view ... will again be a big step." Lamborghini is spending $1.8 billion on its path to an electric future. It's possible the firm could take part of that money to develop a V8 for itself, instantly setting itself apart from the other high-dollar brands in the VW Group. Naturally, we'd love to see that, or even a hybrid V10; what a monster that could be, although heavy, and engineers have been clear about waging a war against weight. The Wolfsburg parent is known to be a huge fan of scale, though, and a V8 or V10 that only serves two vehicles — the Aventador will continue with a V12 even as a plug-in hybrid — seems like a stretch to get approval. Parsing this also depends on how the automaker could define "in-house design." We've seen massively revised engines built around an existing block considered "all-new." The Huracan could debut as soon as next year, one year ahead of the automaker's commitment to electrifying the whole three-car lineup. Autocar says that looking ahead from there, we'll finally get eyes on the battery-electric Lamborghini in 2028. Last year, the predicted window was sometime between 2025 and 2027, and an interview with Lamborghini chief Stephan Winkelmann has clarified a few bits.