In less than a decade, the motoring landscape is likely to look very different from what it does today. The dominance of petrol and diesel engined vehicles that had started with the installation of a starter motor in the 1912 Cadillac is about to end. Call it poetic justice or what you will, but it is the same electric vehicle that the internal combustion engine car that seemed pretty much to have given a burial that has risen to kill off the IC engine.
It was good while it lasted, though. Looking through today’s lens, the way people used cars with nary a thought for the environment and the effects of pollution might seem irresponsible, but then it was what it was, whatever the reason may have been. Man has forever wanted to travel faster and faster, enjoy speed, and cars allowed them to do just that. So today as we stand on the threshold of a different way of doing that, those who have experienced this way of life might feel a touch wistful that the whole drama of the internal combustion engine will soon be history.
Dinosaur-ised, if we may coin the word, they might become, but they were still the fruits of labour and research and technological prowess of generations of people. And some of them are tour de forces that are to be reckoned with no matter what yardstick one uses. So, there’s no holding back now. Car companies are pouring whatever they can into the last generation of vehicles that will run on fossil fuel (oops, dinosaurs won’t leave us alone!).
For those who are wondering what these magnificent beasts are and where to find them, Monterey Car Week with the Quail and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that is held in California, US, is the place. That is where, car makers have figured, they are likely to find the buyers for their exclusive machines and that is where they landed up with the best of their best this year.
Today, Monterey Car Week, unlike in the past when it was about yesteryear’s vehicles, is as much about new cars too, although some will very soon become yesterday’s rides. Here is a look at some of the grand steeds that could form the clutch of cars that a gang of car thieves in, say, something like a Fast & Furious 2050, might be commissioned to steal. That would be quite a heist, actually.
Pictures: Car companies
Porsche 911 GT3 RS: The 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS customised by the GT Model Line and Style Porsche is a tribute to the 1972 911 Carrera RS 2.7. This car is a thinly-veiled track car but one that is legal on the road too. It is powered by Porsche’s 4-litre flat-six engine. As of now it is exclusive to the US and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7.
Koenigsegg CC850 : Get a load of this. The CC850’s 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 delivers 1,185 hp on gasoline or 1,385 hp on E85, as well as 1,385 Nm of torque. The CC850 also achieves a 1:1 power to weight ratio with 1385hp and a 1385kg curb weight. It comes 20 years after the introduction of the Koenigsegg’s first production car, the CC8S, defined the new “megacar” category and the CC850 celebrates that 20th anniversary. It is also a dual tribute for Koenigsegg, celebrating 20 years of vehicle production, as well as the 50th birthday of the company’s founder and namesake, Christian Von Koenigsegg. As such, CC850 production will be limited to just 50 cars worldwide.
