2008 Lexus Rx350 Fully Loaded, Like New Condition, Extremely Clean Interior on 2040-cars

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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.

2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance brings back the V8

The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance revives the dormant IS F formula, bringing V8 power back to the compact luxury Japanese sport sedan for the first time since 2014 and confirming rumors of a new series of V8-powered performance (small p) cars from Lexus. Very little surprises us these days, especially in the luxury segment, but if you'd told us a month ago that we'd be confirming a V8-powered Lexus IS and a new, all-four-cylinder lineup for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in the same week, we'd have called you crazy. Parent company Toyota's presence in Texas may have rubbed off on Lexus, though, because after a years-long hiatus, the V8-powered IS sedan returns. That's right. A V8. In a brand-new compact sport sedan. In 2021.  The new sport sedan will pack a 472-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8 with 395 pound-feet of torque, making it the spiritual successor to the discontinued Lexus IS F. For those keeping track at home, yes, that's the same V8 Lexus has utilized elsewhere in recent years. It currently powers the RC F coupe and, until last year, was also found under the hood of the larger GS F sedan. Like the BMW M3 it matches for power, the Lexus will come standard with rear-wheel drive and a limited-slip differential, making it a true performance machine. Power will go to the rear end by way of the same eight-speed automatic Lexus uses elsewhere as well. Sorry, folks, there's no stick, but hey, the IS F didn't have one either, so let's not get too picky. The original IS F also offered just 416 horsepower and 371 lb.-ft. of torque, so remember, this is all upside here. The original also launched without the LSD, if you'll remember; that came later.  2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance View 26 Photos The other significant edge the IS 500 F Sport Performance will have over its two-generations-removed predecessor will be the benefit of almost a decade's worth of interior development. While the IS platform was not significantly overhauled for the 2021 "re-imagining" (as Lexus puts it; we prefer the term "remodel"), the interior was, and the IS 500 F Sport Performance will benefit from all of the base sedan's upgrades, including a thoroughly overhauled infotainment system, which is night-and-day better than what was offered previously.

Toyota tops Kelley Blue Book's Resale Value Awards

Kelley Blue Book announced its annual Best Resale Value Award winners, and we weren't too surprised to see the list dominated by Japanese automakers - mainly Toyota and Honda. KBB hands out the awards based on the projected residual value of mostly all 2013 model year vehicles, and Toyota skated home with a number of awards including 10 of the 22 overall categories and having five of its products in the top 10 for models with best resale value. KBB's Best Resale Value Awards were announced in the same week as the ALG Residual Value Awards, and there were many similarities between both lists, especially when it came to Toyota.
To come up with its winners, KBB measures depreciation over the first five years of ownership, and looks for the cars it expects to hold its value the best after this time; on average, the report says the 2013 model year vehicles will lose 61.8 percent of its value in five years. Of the 22 categories, 15 slots were filled by Toyota, Honda and Nissan products, while the Camaro and Porsche (Cayenne and Panamera) each took home a pair of awards. If Toyota has anything to be upset about in this list of cars, it's that categories for Hybrid/Alternative Energy Car and Electric Vehicle went to the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Volt, respectively.
The overall top 10 models for the best resale value in 2013 are, in alphabetical order: