The pictures are from Sunday. My friends and I went to the 9th Annual Concours d’Elegance*event in Kirkland here in the Seattle area. The antique Mercedes hails from 1904. The in-line 4 cylinder engine produced 32hp and a top speed of 40mph, the fastest at the time. The star of the show was the James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5, one of the most famous cars in the world, and it sold at an auction last year for some US$ 4 million. The local Mercedes dealer sponsored part of the event and ‘only’ $131,000 will get you this 2011 Mercedes Benz S63 Amg V8 Biturbo – now we’re talking! For the brand-new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, one would have to cough up some US$380,000. (The black one was at the show, the other picture is from Lamborghini’s website). Some specs : the LP700-4 has a curb weight of just 1575 kg (3,472 pounds) due to its carbon fiber-reinforced polymer monocoque structure. The 6.5 liter V12 puts out 690 bhp / 515 kW. The gearbox is a 7-speed independent shift rod transmission (with dual synchronizers) supplied by Graziano Trasmissioni Group with 50 millisecond shift times.
*from French meaning a competition of elegance, lit. “concourse of elegance”, referring to the gathering of prestigious cars, dating back to 17th Century French aristocracy, who paraded horse-drawn carriages in the parks of Paris during Summer weekends and holidays.
