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Rough seas delay salvage operation for burning ship carrying luxury cars

LISBON — Rough waters forced authorities on Wednesday to postpone a salvage operation for a ship packed with luxury cars that have been on fire for a week in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a port official said. With teams unable to board the Felicity Ace, heavy tug boats sprayed water to cool the vessel, which is carrying around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis, Lamborghinis and Bentleys. Lamborghini of America CEO Andrea Baldi told Automotive News that there were dozens of pre-sold Lamborghinis aboard, mostly the Urus SUV. But also some Huracans and Aventadors, the latter of which have ceased production. The ship's 22 crew members were evacuated last Wednesday, the day the fire began. Some of the vehicles are electric, and their lithium-ion batteries have made the fire very difficult to extinguish, port officials have said. Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the nearest port on the Azorean island of Faial, said the blaze had lost its intensity — probably because there was little left to burn. Salvage teams hoped to board the ship, which is is adrift around 170 km southwest of the Azores near Portugal, to assess its condition and start preparing it for towing, the Portuguese navy said in a statement on Tuesday. The navy took photos of the ship that showed a gaping hole at least four decks high, with burn marks running the length of the ship. It is unclear if the vessel will be towed to the Bahamas or Europe. Cabecas told Reuters bad weather prevented the team from boarding the ship. Waves as high as 2.5 meters battered the coast of Faial on Wednesday, Portugal's weather agency IPMA said. The salvage team was expected to be flown to the ship on a helicopter belonging to the Portuguese air force, which will decide on Thursday if the operation can proceed, Cabecas said. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said in a statement on Tuesday the vessel was still on fire but stable, and that no oil leak had been reported so far. It did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the cause of the fire. Insurance experts said the incident could result in losses of $155 million.   Weird Car News Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche

Italdesign will build five of its Zerouno supercar, a carbon-bodied Lamborghini Huracan

There's a lot going on here. Italdesign is launching its new limited-production brand, Italdesign Automobili Speciali, with the crazy mid-engined supercar you see here. The Zerouno looks more like a place to keep every aerodynamic flourish the company has ever created than a car you will actually be able to buy, but they're going to sell five of them. It also reminds us of a Nissan GT-R in some ways, such as the shape of the roof, but you can be assured this is a Lamborghini underneath. Italdesign says the car is powered by a 5.2-liter V10 that will send it to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 205 mph; the engine makes 602 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, just as it does in the standard Huracan. The Zerouno uses the Lambo's seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel-drive system as well. Given the fact that Italdesign is controlled by Lamborghini and the two companies often work closely with each other, we're pretty confident this is the world's most exclusive Lamborghini Huracan. Those few buyers will be able to outfit their car to their taste with help from the Italdesign staff. And just look at all of the aero bits! We count three pairs of dive plane blades, two sets of louvered fender vents, some aggressive splitters, and what might be the world's most complex rear diffuser. The bit at the front that sort of resembles a hand vac intake is part of what Italdesign calls the Y-duct, which pulls in air at the leading edge and routes it out of two ports at the rear of the hood to produce downforce. Air flows around and through just about every part of the car, including the floating light units. The silver car is done up with tricolori accents running down the middle and lots of red trim on the exposed carbon fiber. The whole body is made of the lightweight material, in fact, meaning it should be lighter than a run-of-the-mill Huracan. Even the tires are customizable; it features new Pirelli P-Zero rubber available in a choice of white, red, yellow or metallic gray. The car is designed to be registered for street use, but an optional Corsa package turns it into a track-only vehicle and includes such additional aerodynamic aids as a dorsal spoiler. It will be interesting to see how the Zerouno stacks up against the new top-dog Huracan Performante, which is being shown for the first time at this year's Geneva Motor Show, just like the Italdesign car.

Our date with the Lamborghini Veneno in the desert

Shooting The World's Most Expensive Production Car
One can only consider the Veneno an extremely fascinating machine.
Twelve humans have walked on the moon, yet only three humans will own a Lamborghini Veneno coupe.