http://finance.yahoo.com/family-hom...Custom-Cars;_ylt=AhRMKucfoDLBympzQ2sRVhm7YWsA 
Outrageously Cool Custom Cars
by Sue Zesiger Callaway
Monday, October 1, 2007
provided by
These high-powered sculptures are hand-built from the ground up by small-volume manufacturers for drivers who crave extreme performance, unique design and detailed workmanship.
Pagani Zonda F Roadster
Horacio Pagani, a designer and composite expert, has devoted the past 15 years to building the Zonda, a supercar that is a carbon-fiber and aluminum homage to the late, great five-time Formula 1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio, who particularly admired Mercedes-Benz, consulted on the prototype closely, sharing his ideas about aerodynamics, powertrain, and handling (he also helped persuade Mercedes to lend its AMG V-12 engine to the project).
More From CNNMoney.com:
• Chic Auto-Inspired Accessories
• When a Perfect Porsche Isn't Good Enough
• The Car of No Return
From that bulletlike core to its slippery-fast shape, the Zonda F Roadster is one powerful machine: 650 horsepower and 575 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm (woof!) fed through a six-speed manual gearbox. Fangio had wanted Pagani to call the car the Fangio F1, but when the racing legend died in 1995, Pagani decided to honor the Argentinean by calling it Zonda--"the wind of the Andes."
Price: $1,095,000
paganiautomobili.it
Spyker C8 Spyder
In 2000, Dutch entrepreneur Victor Muller revived Spyker, an old, revered Netherlandish aircraft- and automaker. His vision: to build individualistic and intricately crafted high-performance cars. The nerve center of the Spyker is an Audi V-8 engine, and the detailing on the scissor-doored, 400-horsepower sports cars is as fine as a chronograph's.
The amount of eye candy is staggering, from the exposed gearshift linkage and the beveled aluminum toggles and gauges (there are lots) to the machine-turned dashboard. Spyker's racing activities have met with mixed success; the F1 team was being sold at presstime. But Spyker presses on, with a design language that polarizes -- but wins the valet attention award. Expect an equally extreme SUV next year.
Price: $235,000 loaded
spykercars.com
Koenigsegg CCX
This Swedish looker is the brainchild of 37-year-old Christian von Koenigsegg, a self-proclaimed inventor. With a carbon-fiber monocoque and carbon-fiber chassis, the extremely light (2,600 pounds) and rigid CCX certainly appears to be the stuff of dreams. Koenigsegg has gone to extra trouble to construct his own engine -- a twin supercharged 4.8-liter V-8 that makes 806 horsepower.
If that isn't enough -- or if you're environmentally sensitive -- Koenigsegg offers an E85-powered engine that makes 1,018 hp. Inside, everything you touch is either aluminum, leather, titanium, or carbon fiber. "When the car is open," says Koenigsegg, "it gives you an airy feeling unlike any other car -- it's more like a speedboat."
Price: $990,000 for the 806-hp version, $1,018,000 for the 1,018-hp E85 version
koenigsegg.se
Foose Coupe
Chip Foose, arguably one of the best contemporary hot-rod designers on the planet, shows off his skill every week on his car-makeover show, TLC's "Overhaulin'." Still, transforming other people's clunkers into classics wasn't enough. "I have always dreamed about building my own car, and I started sketching the Hemisfear [the coupe's original name] in art school," says Foose, 43.
With the help of Metalcrafters -- a Fountain Valley, Calif., fabrication specialist -- the steel-tube-framed, carbon-fiber-bodied Foose Coupe -- inspired by both the '33 Ford coupe and the '70 'Cuda -- is now in production. Pick your power poison: a 550-horsepower Hemi V-8 or a 500-horsepower supercharged Ford V-8. But don't be distracted by such numbers -- this hot rod is really a work of art, not a track car.
Price: $298,000
metalcrafters.com
Ruf CTR3
Though it's not entirely built from the ground up (the front crush zone and doors are from a Porsche 911), Alois Ruf's new CTR3 supercar is his grandest foray into independent manufacturing yet. The result is an exponentially refined car with mind-bending performance. Ruf has been improving on Porsche 911s and winning awards for 40 years; the road is littered with people who have tried and failed to better the mighty Porsche, so his talent is unusual. The CTR3 will set you back $550,000, but for 700 horsepower, 656 foot-pounds of torque, and a body to die for, it just might be worth it. Or you can spend a mere $345,000 for a Ruf RT12, a 530-horsepower enhancement of the current 911.
rufautocentre.com
Outrageously Cool Custom Cars
by Sue Zesiger Callaway
Monday, October 1, 2007
provided by
These high-powered sculptures are hand-built from the ground up by small-volume manufacturers for drivers who crave extreme performance, unique design and detailed workmanship.
Pagani Zonda F Roadster
Horacio Pagani, a designer and composite expert, has devoted the past 15 years to building the Zonda, a supercar that is a carbon-fiber and aluminum homage to the late, great five-time Formula 1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio, who particularly admired Mercedes-Benz, consulted on the prototype closely, sharing his ideas about aerodynamics, powertrain, and handling (he also helped persuade Mercedes to lend its AMG V-12 engine to the project).
More From CNNMoney.com:
• Chic Auto-Inspired Accessories
• When a Perfect Porsche Isn't Good Enough
• The Car of No Return
From that bulletlike core to its slippery-fast shape, the Zonda F Roadster is one powerful machine: 650 horsepower and 575 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm (woof!) fed through a six-speed manual gearbox. Fangio had wanted Pagani to call the car the Fangio F1, but when the racing legend died in 1995, Pagani decided to honor the Argentinean by calling it Zonda--"the wind of the Andes."
Price: $1,095,000
paganiautomobili.it
Spyker C8 Spyder
In 2000, Dutch entrepreneur Victor Muller revived Spyker, an old, revered Netherlandish aircraft- and automaker. His vision: to build individualistic and intricately crafted high-performance cars. The nerve center of the Spyker is an Audi V-8 engine, and the detailing on the scissor-doored, 400-horsepower sports cars is as fine as a chronograph's.
The amount of eye candy is staggering, from the exposed gearshift linkage and the beveled aluminum toggles and gauges (there are lots) to the machine-turned dashboard. Spyker's racing activities have met with mixed success; the F1 team was being sold at presstime. But Spyker presses on, with a design language that polarizes -- but wins the valet attention award. Expect an equally extreme SUV next year.
Price: $235,000 loaded
spykercars.com
Koenigsegg CCX
This Swedish looker is the brainchild of 37-year-old Christian von Koenigsegg, a self-proclaimed inventor. With a carbon-fiber monocoque and carbon-fiber chassis, the extremely light (2,600 pounds) and rigid CCX certainly appears to be the stuff of dreams. Koenigsegg has gone to extra trouble to construct his own engine -- a twin supercharged 4.8-liter V-8 that makes 806 horsepower.
If that isn't enough -- or if you're environmentally sensitive -- Koenigsegg offers an E85-powered engine that makes 1,018 hp. Inside, everything you touch is either aluminum, leather, titanium, or carbon fiber. "When the car is open," says Koenigsegg, "it gives you an airy feeling unlike any other car -- it's more like a speedboat."
Price: $990,000 for the 806-hp version, $1,018,000 for the 1,018-hp E85 version
koenigsegg.se
Foose Coupe
Chip Foose, arguably one of the best contemporary hot-rod designers on the planet, shows off his skill every week on his car-makeover show, TLC's "Overhaulin'." Still, transforming other people's clunkers into classics wasn't enough. "I have always dreamed about building my own car, and I started sketching the Hemisfear [the coupe's original name] in art school," says Foose, 43.
With the help of Metalcrafters -- a Fountain Valley, Calif., fabrication specialist -- the steel-tube-framed, carbon-fiber-bodied Foose Coupe -- inspired by both the '33 Ford coupe and the '70 'Cuda -- is now in production. Pick your power poison: a 550-horsepower Hemi V-8 or a 500-horsepower supercharged Ford V-8. But don't be distracted by such numbers -- this hot rod is really a work of art, not a track car.
Price: $298,000
metalcrafters.com
Ruf CTR3
Though it's not entirely built from the ground up (the front crush zone and doors are from a Porsche 911), Alois Ruf's new CTR3 supercar is his grandest foray into independent manufacturing yet. The result is an exponentially refined car with mind-bending performance. Ruf has been improving on Porsche 911s and winning awards for 40 years; the road is littered with people who have tried and failed to better the mighty Porsche, so his talent is unusual. The CTR3 will set you back $550,000, but for 700 horsepower, 656 foot-pounds of torque, and a body to die for, it just might be worth it. Or you can spend a mere $345,000 for a Ruf RT12, a 530-horsepower enhancement of the current 911.
rufautocentre.com
