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Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

VW has received several tentative bids for Ducati

Italy's Benetton family is vying with motorbike firms and buyout funds for control of Italian motorcycle brand Ducati, which is being sold by Germany's Volkswagen, sources involved in the process told Reuters. Volkswagen, whose Audi division controls Ducati, has received several tentative bids with the Benetton family's investment vehicle Edizione Holding valuing the Monster motorbike maker at $1.2 billion, one of the sources said. As well as Edizione Holding, U.S. buyout fund Bain Capital, which owns a stake in Ski-Doo snowmobiles maker BRB, and two Indian motorbike firms, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto, have also bid for Ducati, the sources said. Indian carmaker Eicher controls Royal Enfield, a motorcycle brand established in 1893 which ranks as one of the oldest. Strategic bidders also include U.S. automotive firm Polaris Industries, which earlier this year said it would wind down its struggling Victory Motorcycle brand. A shortlist of bidders for a second stage of the auction could be selected as soon as Saturday, two of the sources said. Volkswagen adviser Evercore has a long list of bidders including private equity funds such as Ducati's previous owner Investindustrial, CVC Capital Partners, Advent and PAI, all hoping to outbid industry players, the sources said. If it gets to the second round, Edizione Holding could seek to form a consortium with a financial investor, two of the sources said, in a bid to secure control of Ducati, whose racers have won the Superbike world championship 14 times, with Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss its most successful riders. Audi, Edizione Holding, Investindustrial, Advent and PAI declined to comment, while the other interested groups were not immediately available for comment. PRICING CHALLENGES For some buyout funds, Ducati's valuation of up to $1.4 billion – which sources said is based on a multiple of more than 10 times its core earnings of roughly 100 million euros – is a tall order as they lack the synergies that some motorbike makers could achieve. But Investindustrial founder Andrea Bonomi, who sold Ducati to Audi for about 860 million euros in 2012, is serious about a comeback, one of the sources said. China's Loncin Motor was among a group of industry players that initially showed interest in Ducati, alongside Harley-Davidson. The latter has, however, decided against making a bid due to Ducati's price tag, while it could not be established if Loncin Motor had carried on bidding.

Like an iPhone S, the 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S adds speed and features

When most automakers introduce a new generation of vehicle, it represents a dramatic change in performance or design. Don't tell Lamborghini that – while the company calls its new Aventador S a new generation, the reality is that this is Sant'Agata's facelifted flagship, complete with some modest visual tweaks and a couple of new pieces of technology. In fact, it's closer to Apple's product cadence of introducing an S model of the iPhone before an all-new model. Those aesthetic changes include a new fascia that Lamborghini claims is more aerodynamic, while the vertical ducts on the outside of the lower intake optimize airflow around the front tires and those huge front wheels, while channeling more air toward the rear radiators. In back, there's a restyled diffuser, and a neat hexagonal exhaust outlet. Above that, there's a three-position active rear wing. All told, Lamborghini claims front downforce is up 130 percent while "overall efficiency" in high-downforce mode increases 50 percent and low-downforce mode improves 400 percent. New for the Aventador is a trick four-wheel steering system, a first for a series production Lamborghini. The idea with the system is like other four-wheel-steering. At low speeds it turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction of the fronts, tightening the Lambo's giant turning radius. At high speeds, the system works in reverse by turning the rear wheels in the same direction as the fronts and providing improved stability. But none of these style and tech changes are worth a damn without that big lump of fury in the Aventador S' middle. Like previous versions, there's a 6.5-liter V12, but its output is up to an SV-matching 740 ponies – torque is unchanged from the LP700-4 we tested in 2015, at 509 pound-feet. Max engine speed is up from 8,350 rpm to a wild 8,500 rpm. The result? Zero to 62 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 217. Prices for the 2017 Aventador S start at an eye-watering $421,350 and – we're guessing – can creep up near $500,000 with a few carefully selected carbon-fiber accents and Ad Personam options. Lamborghini is planning to start deliveries in spring 2017. Related Video: