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2013 Quail Motorsports Gathering wows with modern masterpieces

Pebble Beach is an outstanding event if you're interested in pre-war classics, but outside of the parking lots, it's a bit light on more modern stuff. The Quail, now in its eleventh year, leans far more towards the present day, and has become one of the must-attend events of the Monterey car week.
Like Pebble, though, it's a highly exclusive affair, with triple-digit ticket prices that usually sell out at the same rate as a Justin Bieber concert. If you're one of the lucky few to hold a pass, though, you'll be rubbing elbows with a who's who of the auto world. One of the highlights of this year's event was the appearance of one Michael Schumacher, who showed up alongside one of his Formula 1 cars. A retrospective was also held on Lamborghini's 50 years of production, as well as another celebration of Aston Martin's centennial. There was also a tribute to the late Martin Swig, one of the co-founders of the California Mille, who passed away last year.
The cars, not surprisingly, were epic. Lamborghini, Pagani, Spyker, Rolls-Royce, BMW, McLaren, Bugatti and Galpin Ford all showed new models to the public for the first time, while there were also appearances by Jim Glickenhaus and his Ferrari P4/5 and P4/5 Competizione, marking the first time the coach-built masterpiece and its racing offspring were shown together. Finally, the Petersen Museum showed off its wears, including the late Steve McQueen's gorgeous Jaguar XK-SS.

2020 Virtual Geneva Motor Show Editors' Picks

There may not have been an actual Geneva Motor Show this year, but there were still loads of car reveals that happened the week that the show would have happened. So we still wanted to highlight what our favorites of the would-be show. Our list of cars seemed to match the theme of the reveals, too, highlighting over-the-top supercars and forward thinking electric vehicles. Scroll down to see our favorites. Fifth Place: Aston Martin V12 Speedster - 21 points Managing Editor, Greg Rasa: Astons are works of art, and this one's ready for the Louvre. The design nods to Aston history are nifty. It looks like a jet fighter, except those have canopies. Not sure what 186 mph would be like in this, but don't try it in summer when there are bugs. Contributing Editor, Joe Lorio: Admittedly, this one is a little silly. A $950,000 sports car with no roof? A 700-hp two-seater with no windshield? But the offerings at the Geneva auto show have always tilted toward absurdity, and Aston’s V12 Speedster is endearingly outrageous as a fighter plane for the street. Third Place (Tie): Volkswagen ID.4 - 26 points Senior Producer, Chris McGraw: I don't have much to say about this other than I am a huge fan of more EVs coming to the market, which is why two-thirds of my picks are electric, including the ID.4. Producer, Alex Malberg: Any new fully-electric crossover is a vote for me. The fact it doesn't look terrible and VW will be including AWD later are bonuses.  Third Place (Tie): Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio GTA - 26 points Road Test Editor, Zac Palmer: Hard to argue with the logic of this one. The Giulia Quadrifoglio is already the best driver in this class of hot sedans, so why not extend the lead with a special model. That wing is Type R levels of high, and I completely approve. Associate Editor, Byron Hurd: Love this car. Love it, love it, love it. It's beautiful, aggressive and fast. I'd take it over an M3 or C63 any day. As cool as the GTAm is, though, I'd rather stick to the four-seat GTA. Something about a four-door car with two seats just doesn't really work for me. I haven't alienated ALL of my friends quite yet. Second Place: Hyundai Prophecy - 35 points Senior Editor, Green, John Snyder: I get whiffs of the Genesis Coupe from this sleek concept. I like the focus on form, with interesting details to discover if you look for them. West Coast Editor, James Riswick: Does it look like a Porsche? Sure, but Porsches look neat.

Aston Martin values electric propulsion over downsizing

Not even small-volume manufacturers are being exempt from the automotive industry's pursuit of higher efficiency and lower emissions. At present, that means either electric propulsion (whether in part or in whole) or downsizing conventional engines, and for Aston Martin, the future apparently lines in the former. "I see in our future obviously V12s, V8s and probably battery-electric cars," Aston's CEO Palmer revealed to Autocar. "As time evolves, there's probably an inevitability to hybridisation, simply because, car by car, you can only downsize so much. I'd rather put a hybrid in there than an in-line four-cylinder." So just how does the company envision implementing electric or hybrid propulsion? "Imagine something like a 4x4, 1,000-bhp silent Rapide. I think 'Power, Beauty, Soul' doesn't say it has to be a gasoline engine. It just needs to be really powerful, really beautiful and set your heart on fire," Palmer explained. "I'd argue that 1,000 bhp on the ground would probably do that for you. So that's the route we could go." The British automaker demonstrated the DBX concept with an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain at the Geneva Motor Show a few months ago, and is currently in the process of revitalizing and expanding its current product range. Of course Aston isn't the only high-end niche automaker faced with the decision to either downsize or add hybrid propulsion. Ferrari is taking both approaches, using smaller turbocharged engines in its V8 models and moving towards hybrids with its V12s. Porsche offers an array of plug-in hybrids and is in the process of downsizing and turbocharging its naturally aspirated engines. Pagani switched from a big V12 in the Zonda to a smaller turbo V8 in the Huayra. Bugatti is expected to use electric turbochargers in its Veyron successor. And Lamborghini was recently reported to be considering a turbo five for the Huracan.