Top 5 Cars From Monterey Car Week

This year’s Monterey Car Week kicked off with some rather special unveils. The series of events that spanned the last week concluded on Sunday, August 21 with the 1932 Duesenberg Model J Figoni Sports Torpedo being crowned as the best of show at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Being one of the most prestigious car shows in the world, covering each and everything might prove tedious. So, here are the top 5 new cars unveiled during Monterey Car Week. 

Koenigsegg Breaks Ground, Again.

A sweet tribute to the first-ever production Koenigsegg, the CC8S, looks like a throwback done right, right? It is unmistakably the 2002 CC8S, although with a modern twist. But, there’s more to it and Christian von Koenigsegg seems to have arrived at the car week with the sole intention to break the Internet. 

The CC8S is a freak in the car world and one of its kind, because it has an intriguing gearbox. Dubbed the Engage Shift System, it can be a 9-speed automatic or a gated 6-speed manual with a clutch pedal.

The manual gated shifter is not a mechanical system as it shifts gears by wire, but it is as real as it gets and you could even stall the car. This is a breakthrough and it seriously sounds like the best of both worlds, at least on paper. 

In true Koenigsegg fashion, there’s a 5.0-litre twin-turbo monster of a V8 that develops 1385PS (on ethanol) at the heart of the car. Apart from this, the hypercar also has a power-to-weight ratio of 1:1 as it weighs 1385kg. The Swedes will only build 50 examples and you better get in the line asap. 

A Chiron Without A Roof? Yes, Please.

No escaping the fact that Bugatti is pulling off a Lamborghini with the 2024 Mistral that is nothing but a re-bodied Chiron with a fat price tag. But that doesn’t really matter as all the planned 99 units have been sold out already despite costing $5 million (around Rs 40 crore). 

What’s interesting is that the Mistral happens to be the fastest convertible in the world and it will be the last car to be powered by the 1578PS soul-sucking 8.0-litre W16 quad-turbocharged engine. The Mistral looks smashing without a roof and will definitely help you stand out from the run-of-the-mill Chirons when you show up in one at the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. 

McLaren Brings A Video Game Racecar To Life

The name Solus GT might not sound serious to you. But all it takes is a quick glance to figure out it is one of the most ridiculous track cars out there, even by McLaren standards. For instance, the Senna looks watered-down compared to this race car, which takes inspiration from Vision GT created for the Gran Tourismo video game series.

Surprisingly, the force-fed V8 engine that can be found in the back of every other Mclaren is not what’s powering this single-seater race car. It borrows a 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 from Judd which produces an impressive 829PS and 650Nm enough to hit 321kmph and reach 100kmph in under 2.5 seconds. 

With the downsizing trend, we don’t remember the last time a new car was launched with a V10 engine, let alone one that revs to 10,000rpm. Somebody at McLaren thought it’s a good idea to create 25 Solus GTs and we are glad that all of them exist. Oh, did we mention that all of the 25 units are sold out?

Urus Performante Is Fast, On And Off The Road 

The Pikes Peak hill climb record-breaking SUV has shed its camouflage and it is an Urus that gets the Performante treatment. Headline updates include more power (666PS instead of 637PS) from the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, steel springs and dampers instead of air suspension and updates to styling and aerodynamics. The super SUV also features a new rally mode, a rear-biased differential and Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres as an option. 

The Performante tag also means the Urus is now lighter by 47kg, weighing in at 2358kg. The SUV comes with a base price of $264,871 (equivalent to Rs 2.11 crore), which attracts a premium of around Rs 28 lakh in the US. High chances that Lamborghini might bring this to India given how popular the Urus is, especially among celebrities. 

Bentley Bids Farewell To The W12

Seems like Bentley is also pulling another Lamborghini with the Batur, which is nothing but a re-bodied Continental GT with a fat price tag. Deja vu, anyone? Bentley is making 18 units this time around, considering how fast the 12 roofless Bacalars were sold out, the British firm should have no trouble selling the Batur which is powered by a 729PS 6.0-litre W12 which might not stay around for long. 

Also read: 

• Lamborghini Urus Gets More Hardcore Performante Variant With 666PS V8

• Meet The Suzuki Jimny Modified To Look Like A Brabus G-Wagon

Bentley also unveiled the Batur as a showcase for its future EV designs and this is where the marque is headed. We are not sure of the looks, but this might be our last chance in seeing a Bentley powered by fossil fuel. Interestingly, the dashboard of the Batur has a laser-etched soundwave depicting the sound of the W12. That is a nice touch, considering how much we are going to miss the grumble of the brutish engine.