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2013 Quail Motorsports Gathering wows with modern masterpieces

Pebble Beach is an outstanding event if you're interested in pre-war classics, but outside of the parking lots, it's a bit light on more modern stuff. The Quail, now in its eleventh year, leans far more towards the present day, and has become one of the must-attend events of the Monterey car week.
Like Pebble, though, it's a highly exclusive affair, with triple-digit ticket prices that usually sell out at the same rate as a Justin Bieber concert. If you're one of the lucky few to hold a pass, though, you'll be rubbing elbows with a who's who of the auto world. One of the highlights of this year's event was the appearance of one Michael Schumacher, who showed up alongside one of his Formula 1 cars. A retrospective was also held on Lamborghini's 50 years of production, as well as another celebration of Aston Martin's centennial. There was also a tribute to the late Martin Swig, one of the co-founders of the California Mille, who passed away last year.
The cars, not surprisingly, were epic. Lamborghini, Pagani, Spyker, Rolls-Royce, BMW, McLaren, Bugatti and Galpin Ford all showed new models to the public for the first time, while there were also appearances by Jim Glickenhaus and his Ferrari P4/5 and P4/5 Competizione, marking the first time the coach-built masterpiece and its racing offspring were shown together. Finally, the Petersen Museum showed off its wears, including the late Steve McQueen's gorgeous Jaguar XK-SS.

Lamborghini Sian's supercapacitor hybrid system explained by company's CTO

"We are a game-changer and a provocateur," Lamborghini's CTO, Maurizio Reggiani told Engadget. The automaker has a long history of making waves with traffic-stopping designs and more recently, innovative tech. At last week's Frankfurt Motor Show, the Italian company unveiled its Sian hybrid supercar. But it ditched the traditional battery pack in favor of a supercapacitor to power an electric motor, which is exactly what you would expect from the Italian company. Typically a hybrid uses a lithium-ion battery pack to store energy. Then when needed, it transfers an electrical current to a motor (or motors) to either help the gas-powered engine or take over propulsion entirely. It's a recipe that has successfully improved gas mileage and sold over six million examples of the Toyota Prius, not to mention countless other hybrids. "It's too easy to follow," Reggiani said. "If you want to move for the first time in electrification you must guarantee that the implementation will not destroy the DNA of a car and brand." With that in mind, the automaker went with a supercapacitor instead of a battery. According to Reggiani, the supercapacitor offers up three times the power of a battery pack from the same weight and packaging. Plus, it stores and discharges energy much quicker. The spent power can be fully regenerated very quickly during normal braking. Reggiani explained that this could be particularly useful while cornering. Going into a corner, the driver applies the brakes and replenishes any spent energy. Then, as the driver accelerates out of the corner, all the available power is there for acceleration. Then as the driver brakes for the next curve, the process starts all over again. Plus, the supercapacitor doesn't have to cool down like traditional battery, it's just ready to go at all times -- which is exactly what Lamborghini owners want. The output of the 48-volt motor installed into the gearbox is 34 horsepower which brings the total power output of the V12 Sian to 819 horsepower. While 34 horsepower doesn't seem like much, it means the vehicle can do zero to 62 miles per hour in under 2.8 seconds. That's Tesla Model S Performance and Porsche Taycan levels of fast. But there are other benefits. The electric motor reduces the torque hits of the gears shifting. You know those momentary losses -- then explosions of power -- you feel in the car as it speeds up, that's the vehicle going through its gears.

Hybrid Lamborghini Huracan successor caught in spy photos

The Lamborghini Huracan is getting old, having launched for the 2015 model year, and the car it's based on, the Audi R8, is on its way out, too. While things like the Sterrato and STO have kept things fresh, a replacement is definitely on the way. These spy photos give us our first look at that successor, and it's got some radical features, including some amount of hybrid power. The overall silhouette of this car looks similar to the Huracan it's going to replace. It's a short, wedge-y shape with an ultra-short rear overhang. But many of the details are taken to greater extremes. The headlights are especially notable. They're a split design, with slim horizontal lamps that line up with the shut line of the hood, and down in the bumper, there are huge hexagonal lamps that almost look like they're floating in the bumper openings. Toward the back, this car loses the big intake cowls that trail from the roofline, giving it broader shoulders and a more svelte greenhouse. It also loses the big louvres over the engine bay, instead having a more open design akin to some McLarens. The exhaust now exits high out the rear bumper through a flashy hexagonal exhaust tip between the taillights. What those lights look like is unclear as they're covered by stickers of other Lamborghini lamps. The rear diffuser is huge and aggressive, too. The powertrain for the new Lamborghini is rumored to be a twin-turbo V8, rather than the Huracan's naturally aspirated V10. It will clearly have a hybrid component, as this prototype has a few high-voltage warning stickers indicating the presence of a hybrid battery and other components. Output reportedly could be as high as 850 horsepower. That's a lot, but would still leave plenty of room beneath the Revuelto flagship supercar. This prototype looks far along in development, and as we've established, the Huracan and its Audi stablemate aren't long for the world. So we would expect to see this replacement revealed in a year or so. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.