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Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

Lamborghini weighs first factory-backed Le Mans entry

Lamborghini could expand its racing program by competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Italian company has never been able to justify funding the development of an LMP1-spec prototype from the ground up, but the hypercar category the WEC will launch in 2020 makes competing in high-profile races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans much more affordable. The new class created to pick up where LMP1 will leave off has piqued the interest of Lamborghini boss Stefano Domenicali. He told British magazine Autocar that his team is taking a careful look at the regulations, and company officials will decide whether to go racing by the end of 2019. The hypercar category will replace LMP1 during the 2020/2021 season, and its guidelines call for racers that look like production models. They'll need to weigh under 2,160 pounds, and they'll be allowed to use active aerodynamic technology, which Lamborghini already uses on production models like the Aventador SVJ, the Huracan Performante, and the Huracan Evo. Domenicali hinted a car similar to the one-off, Aventador-based SC18 (pictured) introduced in late 2018 could take Lamborghini racing. It shows the company has "a base for what could be an interesting approach," he told Autocar. Created at the request of a customer, the SC18 delivers 770 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque thanks to the Aventador's naturally-aspirated, 6.5-liter V12. If Lamborghini chooses to race, it will need to fend off competition from Aston Martin and Toyota, among others. Aston Martin confirmed it will compete in the hypercar category with an evolution of the 1,160-horsepower Valkyrie, while Toyota is busily transforming the Super Sport concept into a hypercar-spec racer. Unverified reports suggest McLaren and Ferrari could also join the fray sooner or later. While Lamborghini's history isn't rooted in racing, and it has never operated a full, factory-backed WEC program, its cars have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other endurance events on several occasions. Die-hard fans will remember the Murcielago R-GT that raced at Le Mans between 2006 and 2009. It was more show than go, and it finished near (or at) the bottom of the pack. Auto News Motorsports Lamborghini Le Mans lmp1

2019 Lamborghini Urus shows off its drive modes

Urus: Rambo Lambo Part II is debuting in just under two weeks. The follow-up to the long departed Lamborghini LM002 takes a much different course than its rough-and-tumble forbearer. The Urus looks to be a genuine performance vehicle, albeit in the shape of a sharp and chiseled crossover. The new model is powered by a twin-turbo V8 making roughly 650 horsepower. This new teaser shows the Urus blasting around on some desert roads. Frankly, it looks like a riot. We know roughly what the exterior will look like, but this teaser is our first look at the Urus' interior. It looks to have the same digital instrument cluster from the 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S. There's also an Anima toggle switch that appears to flip through quite a few drive modes. Translating the Italian to English shows modes for street, sport, race, sand, land and snow. This is an SUV after all, and a pretty sweet-looking one at that. We don't yet have all the details for the new model, but its Dec. 4 reveal isn't too far off. Stay tuned for more. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: YouTube Lamborghini Crossover SUV Performance