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Infiniti went out of its way to make the QX30 not a Mercedes

You can complain all you want about perceived badge engineering when a company (like Mercedes-Benz) sells a platform to another brand (such as Infiniti). The reality is that most buyers won't know the difference, and they won't even realize their Infiniti is really a Mercedes underneath or that their neighbor's GLA has the same basic parts as the QX30 they just bought. What's weird to me isn't that sameness, but the places where the two cute little utes differ. These two vehicles, which are more like tall hatchbacks, use the same Mercedes 2.0-liter turbo four and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Infiniti adds its own throttle and transmission calibrations. The suspension design is the same, although there are tuning differences. Both come standard with front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive an option. Fuel economy matches for the FWD models, while the AWD Infiniti lags behind the Mercedes for some reason. So they're very similar despite their different looks. And design makes sense as a point of differentiation. Frankly, they go further than a lot of vehicles on shared platforms do – further, in fact, than the upcoming Nissan Navara-based Mercedes X-Class pickup does. The QX30 has its own sheetmetal and glass to separate it from the GLA-class. You probably think one looks better than the other. If you know where to look, the signs of sameness are obvious. Most major systems and pieces are shared, like the steering wheels (with different center covers), most switchgear, and things like interior and exterior door handles. Shared parts are fine as long as the parts are good ones. On that note, how many Tesla buyers realize their steering column and stalks, plus the window switches, come from Mercedes? And does that actually matter? We'd argue no. About those differences. Many are functional, like the fact the Infiniti does not carry over the Benz's Brake Hold feature – when you roll to a stop in the GLA (or any other Benz), pressing the brake pedal firmly applies the electric parking brake until you hit the gas to move again. The QX30 has an electric parking brake, but no Brake Hold feature. Someone used to driving Mercedes models will look a bit silly standing on the brake pedal to no effect. Ask us how we know. The Mercedes gauge package is carried over, but with the Infiniti font. Makes sense, although it's off-putting at first if you've seen the original, prompting a weird deja vu. Circular dash vents are replaced by rhomboid ones.

Performance cars old and new are headed to auction at Las Vegas Grand Prix

Auction house RM Sotheby's is hosting a sale ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix, and most of the lots that will cross the block were designed with performance in mind. Whether you want a supercar or a Formula One car, there's a chance you'll find it in Sin City. One of the highlights from the sale in terms of rarity and price is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04 that Lewis Hamilton drove in the 2013 F1 season. Assigned chassis number F1W04-04, it's the team's last car powered by a naturally-aspirated V8 engine, and you're on the wrong track if you're thinking of the 4.0-liter unit that powers AMG's road cars. The engine in question is a 2.4-liter unit that develops 750 horsepower and is capable of revving to a screaming 18,000 rpm. The KERS system injects 80 additional horses into the driveline. Hamilton drove F1W04-04 in 14 of the 2013 season's 19 races, and he won that year's Hungarian Grand Prix in the car. RM Sotheby's notes that F1W04-04 is "the sole example to be sold outside of the Mercedes-Benz organization," which explains why it expects the car will sell for anywhere between $10 million and $15 million excluding the buyer's fee and a 2.5% import duty that applies to American residents. That's a lot of money, but modern Formula One cars rarely come up for sale. Several other cars are expected to sell above the $1 million mark, including a 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR ($8 million to $9 million), a 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort ($1,650,000 to $1,850,000), and a 1996 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport ($2,500,000 to $3,250,000). The 1990 Ferrari F40 GT (one of 21 units built) could bring up to $4 million. You can take home a rare, high-end classic even if you cap your budget at $1 million. How about a 1984 Lamborghini Countach 5000 S that was delivered new to Ralph Lauren and that has been in the hands of its second owner since 1986? RM expects the coupe will sell for up to $900,000. The auction house is also giving enthusiasts two distinctly different ways to spend a six-digit sum on a 30-something-year-old Mercedes-Benz. There's a 1990 190E 2.5-16 Evolution with about 3,400 original miles that could fetch up to $700,000. That's a lot to pay for a W201, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill Baby Benz: It's one of 502 examples built for homologation purposes. Alternatively, the 1989 560SEC AMG 6.0 Wide-Body could sell for up to $900,000. It's one of the most emblematic cars designed by AMG before it joined Mercedes-Benz.

Brabus 800 Roadster is a power-mad aristocrat

If we're being completely honest, we haven't exactly been in love with the aesthetics of the sixth-generation Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. It's mostly a front-end issue, with its glowering eagle-eye headlamps and upright, dinner-plate-sized Three-Pointed Star coming across to us as overwrought. That's particularly troublesome for a roadster whose history has of the most elegant designs of all time in its back catalog. Somehow, the new R231 generation's brash visuals seem more at home on this Brabus 800 Roadster to us.
That's probably because the high-dollar German tuner has turned up the wick on the SL's visuals even further, with carbon fiber bodywork, a more aggressive aero kit, matte hood scoop and complex two-finish wheels. It's all-the-way committed to its brashness, in other words - and justifiably so. Anything with 800 horsepower and 1,047 pound-feet of torque has earned the right to look however it wants, right?
Brabus started with the SL65 and its not-exactly-underpowered 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12, and went to town, fitting their own turbocharger and intercooler system, along with a less-restrictive exhaust system with driver-selectable sound levels and new engine electronics. The result is a 3.7-second 0-62 mph time, an electronically limited top whack of 217 mph... and one seriously compromised toupée.