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The Tramontana R is a beast to be reckoned with, as reinforced by the supercar managing to not look entirely clumsy even with that paintjob. The paintjob however, happens to be a highlight for this Tramontana R. The car has been hand-painted by Fernando Leal-Audirac, and the paintjob uses metallic paints enriched with gold and the powder of precious gems. With a paintjob like that, even a scratch could be extremely expensive. But let’s get real, the V12 powered monster for €2 million ($2.95 million), will obviously land in a private garage, only to be seen rarely by a lucky few. The car is selling on JamesList.

Now is the chance to get your hands on a military grade hovercraft, complete with all its nuances. The 179-feet Excelsior Dawes Hovercraft was originally created to take troops to enemy shores, so it comes equipped with two stabilized multiple rocket launchers, four portable air defense missile systems, life support, and nuclear, biological, and chemical protection areas, room for three tanks and 140 troops, complete with living quarters. All you need is $64,999,995 because 5 bucks is a big deal when you’re spending that kind of money.

Caterham has announced that the company is developing hybrid and electric powrtrains, and prototypes may be unveiled before the end of this year, the company boss Ansar Ali announced at the Tokyo Motor Show. Caterham is buying a hybrid drivetrain suitable for function with its existing engines, an electric drivetrain is also being bought, though the company has not provided any details about its suppliers. The company hopes to put the electric/hybrid car on the roads in 2012, and while the idea may be all great in paper, how the purists react to these cars is yet to be seen.

Via: Autocar

With the debut of the Lexus LFA at the Tokyo Motor Show, the car had a companion for itself in the form of a wire-frame model. The model has the appearance of what the car might have looked like when it was being rendered through software. The cutaway “sculpture” clearly shows the powertrain of the car, and its mighty 4.8-l V10, together with a few of its mechanical components.

When Mini makes a video about its drivers, we would expect to see something interesting that glorifies those who drive a Mini. This video though, takes things in the entirely opposite direction. We’re not sure what kind of a creative mind was employed, but seriously, if a guy jumps over seats and people in a theater, you don’t say “Oh hey! This guy is so full of life.” You call such guys douchebags, so full of shit. Also, dude, teach your dog a few things, it’s going to get itself killed. The only high point in the video was when the guy races after the chick in the elevator, and that’s because they didn’t make him run up the stairs. Whew! Ranting: really makes you feel lighter.

Video: YouTube

Car designers Andy Shaw and Robert Silkstone have developed a luxury watch brand Industrial North Design, which is now ready to launch two of its first models. The design of the Britannic and Vanguard-Precision watches has been inspired by the automotive background of both designers, and also incorporates influences from the Fibonacci sequence, Geodesic domes, construction of the beehive and the designers’ love for the industrial heritage of northern England.

Speed bumps are mostly seen as the stupid, irritating, indiscriminating bulges that will trouble motorists no matter how well they are driving. To make these uglies less of a bother and actually worth their job, Mexico based Decano Industries is developing a “smart” speed bump. The idea is to reduce fuel consumption, increase safety, and stop troubling speed limit abiding motorists.

The Segway is impressive in many ways, even if it lacks a bit of common sense and a third wheel that would have made things a lot easier. Well, that doesn’t make all its gadgetry any less impressive. DIYer Mark was inspired by the Segway to create his very own self-balancing transportation package. He modeled the frame in CAD and then welded the frame to create his version of the Segway.

Flipping a car off a half pipe is cool, and doing that with the door open gets even better, especially when you manage to land completely safely. The stunt was likely sponsored by Bridgestone, and an Arab automotive enthusiast took it upon himself to do the interesting stunt. The car was probably prepared for the stunt, with a tighter, lowered suspension and with the driver wearing a five-point harness. Our friends at Examiner have a brief piece scrutinizing the Physics of the stunt. Checkout the video, it’s fun!

Via: Examiner/ CarDomain Blog

Wiesmann had announced that they would build the GT MF4 live at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and two employees of the company worked to complete the process over 10 days of the show. The video above is a time lapse video of the process, showing the build in 3 minutes and 52 seconds. Obviously, while compressing the rather long time it took to actually create the car into the short duration of this video, it misses a few things, but that’s all negligible considering the effort and the sheer innovation that went into the build.