La Dolce Veloce

Pistonheads has a story on the launch of the EOS supercar. This British-build sports car features a custom built 500hp V8, a three seat layout similar to the McLaren F1 (with the driver in the center), and weighs less than 1000kg due to its carbon fiber construction. The prototype will not be running for another year or so, and importation into the US is unlikely at best though European sports car fans can enjoy one of these starting in 2007. The styling is a bit odd; the side profile is pleasant but the squared off front end is a bit odd IMO. You can read more about it here, or see the rest of this post for a few more pictures.
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The upcoming successor to the Ferrari 575 Maranello, the Imola, was spied testing recently. The Imola will be based on the 612 Scaglietti’s platform, and should be introduced sometime in 2006 (Geneva, maybe?).

The Gumball 3000 has begun, with the cars leaving Trafalgar Square in London. For realtime updates, check out this blog or this one. The usual exotic machines are competing – Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Porsche, as well as every other type of driving machine you can think of (including two Hummers, tsk tsk tsk). You can find a lot of pictures of the cars at the starting point here and more here. For those that haven’t heard of this before, the Gumball 3000 is a Cannonball Run like road rally, combining fine dining and hotels with some pretty crazy driving in between. It’s mostly a European event, though one year it was run in the US.

German car company Wiesmann announced it’s putting its GT into production, though don’t expect to see the car in the US. Weighing 2756 pounds, the car accelerates to 60 in 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 174mph, courtesy of a 367hp 4.8 liter V-8 from BMW.
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Whoa…where’d this one come from?! Well, let’s start with the ‘official’ explanation. Word is that German tire manufacturer Fulda needed a car that they could use to test a new tire at speeds greater than 300km/h (186mph). So, the Exelero was born. I don’t buy that for a moment. This concept is much too refined, and the market segment it fits into is currently very hot. A stunning car like this would sell great and help build the Maybach brand name (Mercedes revived the Maybach name to compete in the high end against BMW owned Rolls Royce and VW owned Bentley). The Exelero is based on the Maybach 57 coupe, and features a 700hp V-12 with 740 ft-lbs of torque. See the rest of this post for more pictures.
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I had my hopes up for Spyker, the small Dutch car company responsible for the C8 sports car. Here, I thought, was an exciting sports car company, one to watch! Sadly, if rumors of an impending SUV from them hold true, then they’re turning out to be little more than a bling bling company. This shows their focus is on show, not go. Sad, really…the world could use more true sports car companies. Read more here.

Ferrari appears to be working on a new supercar, to take the place of the Enzo as their ultimate road car offering. It’s still likely many years out, but a modified Enzo was sighted testing at Fiorano. The extensive modifications suggest this car is being used for research and development on the drivetrain. Unfortunately, the flames seen shooting out of this prototype’s tailpipes are one feature not likely to make it to production. AutoWeek has more information and pictures.