2005 Mercedes Sl500 Amg Appearance Package on 2040-cars

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Mercedes G500 4x4 rumbles into view

Mercedes keeps raising the bar with the G-Class: just when you think the legendary Gelandewagen couldn't get any more hardcore, it mashes the throttle and does exactly that, plowing through a bank of snow, sand, hell or high water in the process. What you see here is the latest. It's called the G500 4x42. Aside from the various engine specs, the G-Class has been offered in a number of body-styles. Right around the same time that the two-door convertible was discontinued, Benz rolled out the indomitable G63 AMG 6x6 – a half-million-dollar, six-wheeled monster truck powered by Affalterbach's 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8. Evidently enough people liked the idea but didn't see the point in that extra set of wheels, so Mercedes has toned it down – just a little – but kept the high-riding suspension. The result is the truck we've seen testing a couple of times now in a bright shade of Hulk green, and which is now just about ready for its debut. On the scale of extreme G-Wagens, it slots in between the standard model and the 6x6, keeping the jacked-up suspension and giant wheels, but losing the extra axle. The G500 moniker also indicates that it'll at least be available with the 382-horsepower, naturally aspirated, non-AMG version of the 5.5-liter V8 that we'd know as the G550. Just how much of a premium Benz will charge for the beefed-up version, we don't know, as further details are set to be released next week ahead of a likely debut in Geneva. But hopefully it'll be closer to the $115k it gets for the standard version than the $500+k the 6x6 goes for.

The hottest modern sports cars rendered as rally racers

The modern-day World Rally Championship a monumental amount of fun to watch – I should know, as I recently was lucky enough to head to the UK to watch WRC Wales Rally GB – but even the most monstrous of the current WRC cars are based on fairly pedestrian European hatchbacks. Back in the heyday of rally, the Group B era in the 1980s, much hotter cars were the basis of even more incredible competition machines, for the most part. Take the exotic Ford RS200, or the Lancia Delta S4 with its twin-charged engine. And the hatchback-based Group B cars were bonkers, too. So what would some of our favorite modern cars look like if Group B had never ended? A British site named CarWow hired an artist to reimagine everything from the Rolls-Royce Wraith to the Porsche 911 as a retro-inspired rally car, and they were kind enough to let us share the results in the gallery above. The gallery features an Alfa Romeo Giulia in Martini livery, an Audi TT in classic Ur-Quattro colors, a Fiat 500 Abarth sporting massive flares and a hood blister full of auxiliary lights, a new Ford Mustang in RS200 livery, a Lancia Delta in Alitalia colors, a Porsche 911 in Rothmans livery, a Renault-Alpine in classic blue, a Rolls-Royce Wraith tribute to the Jules cologne Corniche Coupe, and a relatively modern-looking VW Touran. So far, the favorite around the office is the incredible Mercedes-Benz S-Class that is an homage to the wonderful 300 SEL 6.8 AMG "Red Pig" that essentially put AMG on the map. Check out the gallery above and see which one you like the best. Related Video:

Lewis Hamilton wins in Hungary to stretch F1 title lead over Sebastian Vettel

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position for Mercedes on Sunday to go into the August break with a 24-point lead over Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was runner-up in Hungary, 17.1 seconds behind, and survived a late collision with Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas who also banged bodywork with Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo. The victory was Hamilton's record sixth in Hungary, fifth of the season and 67th of his career. Ferrari, mourning the death of former chairman Sergio Marchionne, had Kimi Raikkonen finish third to complete a podium of champions on a dry and sweltering afternoon at the Hungaroring outside Budapest. In a race effectively decided by Saturday's wet qualifying, when Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid against expectation, Hamilton was never challenged. "We came here knowing Ferrari would be really quick this weekend so to come out with these points, we'll definitely take it as a bonus," said Hamilton in a pitlane interview after embracing team members. "I'm really happy with how strong it's come in the last couple of races. We've got to come strong in the next half," added the 33-year-old, who won in Germany from 14th place on the grid a weekend earlier. After 12 races, Hamilton has 213 points to Vettel's 189. Tire strategies were also crucial at a relatively slow and twisty circuit where overtaking is always difficult, with track temperatures hovering around 50 degrees Celsius. Vettel started on the softs and went for a longer first stint than Mercedes, worried by Ferrari's quick getaways, who opted for ultrasofts that were quicker at the start but faded more rapidly. Lining up in fourth place on the grid, Vettel grabbed third from Raikkonen immediately but could not find a way past Bottas who slotted in behind Hamilton as a defense against the red threat. "We were out of position. I think we could have gone with Lewis today with the race pace," said Vettel. "P2 is not really what we wanted this weekend but I think it was the maximum today." ANGRY VERSTAPPEN Raikkonen, without water during the race after Ferrari forgot to connect the bottle, made two stops and agreed third – his fifth successive podium finish – was the best he could have hoped for in the circumstances. "We caught up with Bottas after the first stop but there was no chance to overtake. So our option was to stop again and try again.