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VW has received several tentative bids for Ducati

Italy's Benetton family is vying with motorbike firms and buyout funds for control of Italian motorcycle brand Ducati, which is being sold by Germany's Volkswagen, sources involved in the process told Reuters. Volkswagen, whose Audi division controls Ducati, has received several tentative bids with the Benetton family's investment vehicle Edizione Holding valuing the Monster motorbike maker at $1.2 billion, one of the sources said. As well as Edizione Holding, U.S. buyout fund Bain Capital, which owns a stake in Ski-Doo snowmobiles maker BRB, and two Indian motorbike firms, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto, have also bid for Ducati, the sources said. Indian carmaker Eicher controls Royal Enfield, a motorcycle brand established in 1893 which ranks as one of the oldest. Strategic bidders also include U.S. automotive firm Polaris Industries, which earlier this year said it would wind down its struggling Victory Motorcycle brand. A shortlist of bidders for a second stage of the auction could be selected as soon as Saturday, two of the sources said. Volkswagen adviser Evercore has a long list of bidders including private equity funds such as Ducati's previous owner Investindustrial, CVC Capital Partners, Advent and PAI, all hoping to outbid industry players, the sources said. If it gets to the second round, Edizione Holding could seek to form a consortium with a financial investor, two of the sources said, in a bid to secure control of Ducati, whose racers have won the Superbike world championship 14 times, with Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss its most successful riders. Audi, Edizione Holding, Investindustrial, Advent and PAI declined to comment, while the other interested groups were not immediately available for comment. PRICING CHALLENGES For some buyout funds, Ducati's valuation of up to $1.4 billion – which sources said is based on a multiple of more than 10 times its core earnings of roughly 100 million euros – is a tall order as they lack the synergies that some motorbike makers could achieve. But Investindustrial founder Andrea Bonomi, who sold Ducati to Audi for about 860 million euros in 2012, is serious about a comeback, one of the sources said. China's Loncin Motor was among a group of industry players that initially showed interest in Ducati, alongside Harley-Davidson. The latter has, however, decided against making a bid due to Ducati's price tag, while it could not be established if Loncin Motor had carried on bidding.

The Lamborghini Trumpventador is gonna be huge

Some voters may choose to declare their support for their favorite candidate with bumper stickers, while others keep their preferences more private (or at least off of the surface of their cars). And then there's this Lamborghini Aventador. No matter how you feel about the 2016 election, can we all agree that a candidate-themed car is a bad idea? This (hopefully) one-of-a-kind Lambo began as a 691-horsepower Aventador. It now features a special wrap prepared by the folks at Superior Auto Design and emblazoned with Donald Trump's likeness and slogans. Star-spangled in red, white, and blue, this Aventador features The Donald's face on the nose and phrases like "you're fired!", "Trump Train" and "Make American GR8 Again!" all over the bodywork. Now if it strikes you as a little odd declaring one's support for Trump on a Lamborghini and not, say, a Jeep Wrangler, you may not be alone. The GOP front-runner has, railed against manufacturing automobiles abroad and repeatedly lambasted Ford for its factories in Mexico. Lamborghinis are, of course, built in Italy. But then again, Trump has owned at least one Lambo himself over the years. The Trumpventador is slated to take part in the 2016 Gold Rush Rally that's scheduled to leave Boston on May 13 and end in LA on the 21st, with stops in Washington, Charlotte, Nashville, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas in between. So keep your eyes open if you're in one of those cities and want to catch a glimpse, or keep 'em shut if you don't. Related Video:

Lamborghini Jumpacan built to race The Mint 400 hits the dirt

Lamborghini's cars keep finding their way off the boulevards and into the barrens. Officially, Lamborghini whipped out the rally-happy Huracan Sterrato concept in 2019, preceded by the Gallardo Parcour concept in 2013. Unofficially, an unnamed builder sold their off-road Gallardo complete with light bars and rear-mounted spare in 2019, the same year Alex Choi showed off his Huracan V3 Unicorn with an external roll cage, and in 2017 some audacious owner got his Lamborghini Jarama bouncing through stages of the DWA Coastal Range Rally in California. Let us now add the Lamborghini Jumpacan to the roster. Fabbed up by the YouTubers at B is for Build, the Jumpacan's been in the works for 18 months with the intention to race it at The Mint 400 this December. The man behind B is for Build, Chris Steinbacher, recently got the Jumpacan out to the desert plains for its first test over 40 miles per hour.  The mashup started as a Huracan that had been mangled in a big accident. The Build team 3D-scanned the chassis and got it straight, then performed a similar surgery to one they'd carried out on their SEMA Huracan in 2019: They put an LS V8 in back and paired it with a Graziano six-speed manual, leaving off the 1,500-horsepower SEMA car's two turbos. The Jumpacan's been fitted with a long-travel suspension designed by SEM Dirt, the 35-inch tires hung up front and 37-inchers in the back contributing to the 12 inches of ground clearance. Other bits include Holley electronics managing the engine, a radiator mounted just behind the cockpit and fed by a roof scoop, Ford Shelby GT500 brakes tucked into Rotiform wheels, a roll cage and racing fuel cell, and the obligatory torso-hugging racing seats. The Jumpacan conversion has stretched the Huracan's width from 76.1 inches stock to 102 inches.  True, it's barely a Lamborghini anymore. But it might be the coolest thing that was once a Lamborghini to ever line up at The Mint. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.