Thanks to my job, I have had the rare opportunity to drive several high-powered and expensive cars. From Porsche to Lamborghini with a few GT-Rs in between, I have spent a lot of time going fast. When I heard Gotham Dream Cars was coming to town, I didn’t really think too much about it. A few quick laps in a Lamborghini around an autocross course seemed to pale in comparison to some of the things I had done. Then I started to hear some of the other car fiends in the area talking about how exciting this seemed.
Even people I know of who aren’t that excited about cars were interested in this chance to experience the power and speed of a supercar. It makes sense though. Supercars are the most useless creation in the world of the automobile, but they still draw certain emotions from us.
It doesn’t matter how much you like cars or not, when a supercar rolls by, you likely pay attention. Maybe it’s the speed, the looks or the noise, but the majority of the world is simply drawn to them.
I decided that I would test this theory and I decided to head to the event. Aside from just experiencing what Gotham has to offer, I brought my wife. Thanks to me she knows about cars, but aside from the fact that she thinks Porsche 911s are pretty, she has little to no interest in anything to do with supercars.
Would she still enjoy this experience? Would she revel in the noise and the horsepower that all petrol heads crave? What about the other guests of the event? Are they gasoline-drinking speed junkies or just regular people drawn in by the allure of Italian horsepower?
Read on to find out more about my day with Gotham Dream Cars
As an auto writer, I do get the chance to sit in some cool cars like the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder I drove in Gumball or the Nissan GT-R I reviewed, but what if you aren’t a writer and you still want to experience the thrust of a Ferrari? There are a few companies out there that do special track days and even daily rentals of exotic cars, but those experiences are usually thousands of dollars and you usually need to travel to a really big city or race track. What if you are one of the millions who just can’t tick all those boxes to try a car? I have a solution.
Gotham Dream Cars has a new program called Dream Car Sprint that may help you out. It’s a traveling program that visits nearly 50 cities around the country, and they set up a full autocross course for you to play on. The best part is the cost; $250. I have yet to find a cheaper way to bury your foot in the throttle of cars like the Ferrari F430.
They have other more traditional programs with varying costs, but this traveling circus of horsepower sounds the coolest. They are coming to a local spot near me soon, and I am going to give it a shot. Keep your eyes here to see what I think about that.
Read more about the Gotham Dream Car Sprint and their other programs below.
Hello everyone! I hope you guys have had a great week so far and are very excited for the TopSpeed Podcast. This week is Episode 016 and I have a few surprises for you guys.
At some point in the show, I am going to let everyone know how they can get some cool Gumball 3000 gear. I came home with of lots of stickers, key chains, T-shirts and some other cool swag, and I am going to be giving most of it away. You have to watch or listen to the show to figure out how to get it though.
We are start the show off with Mark and Justin talking about what they have been driving over the last week. That means the Civic Si and the expensive Range Rover Autobigraphy. I meanwhile wax poetically about the V-10 wail of the Lamborghini Gallardo as it bounces off the rev-limiter. You don’t want to miss that part.
For news we discuss the continued recovery of Michael Schumacher, Nissan’s new GT-R based concept car and the possibility of an RX-8 replacement from Mazda. We also fit some Aston Martin news in as well.
We even take the chance to talk a bit about what will be happening at Goodwood.
After the news, we have a few questions to answer from you guys about company collaborations and special edition custom cars like Ferrari’s many SP models.
We wrap up the show with Own, Drive, Burn for a trio of far out supercar concepts.
We hope you guys enjoyed the show. As always, feel free to send us any comments, questions or concerns. We love to hear it all.
See you next week.
It’s like every petrol head’s dream come true. The call came through and all I heard were the words “Lamborghini” and “drive.” My mouth gushed forward a "yes" before my brain could even process what was happening. I was going to be handed the keys to a Lamborghini Gallardo, the best-selling and most popular car in the brands 50+ year history. The exact model in question was an LP560-4 Spyder. With a 5.2-liter V-10 engine making more than 550 horsepower, and a curb weight almost 500 pounds less than a Nissan GT-R, it should be exciting.
Of course, there is always a pang of fear when it comes to situations like this. Lots of cars have massive followings and are supposed to be exquisite to drive, but I have found on more than one occasion that sometimes it is best to never meet your heroes.
As the entry for AnastasiaDate into the 2014 Gumball 3000 Rally, I wasn’t promised a lot of time with the car, but it was enough for me to make a decision about the car.
Was this a mistake, or did this tiny supercar drive its way into my heart?
Read on to find out what I think of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder
The third day of the rally was going to be the worst. We had nearly 900 miles to travel, and our slow-moving follow car meant that most of the other cars would leave us lagging hours behind, limiting the exciting supercar scenery we would see. What actually happened though was that this final day became my favorite.
By the time the day was over I had new sunglasses, saw a Ferrari get crunched by a van, got stuck in an elevator, met some awesome famous people, met awesome people who weren’t so famous, and made some great new friends. I also spent some more time in the Lamborghini Gallardo and learned to play a Russian card game.
The day I was dreading the most turned out to be one of the most exciting. It just goes to show that anything is possible, especially when you are dealing with the insanity and excess that is the Gumball 3000.
Happy Thursday, welcome back to the TopSpeed Podcast.
This week’s show includes talks about Justin’s time with the BMW 435i, Mark’s experience with the Toyota Avalon, and I talk about the insanity that was the American leg of the Gumball 3000.
We continue the supercar talk with Mark’s take on the American trio of Viper, Corvette and Z/28, and you get to hear our thoughts on the crazy diesel powered BMW X6 M50d.
We also spend some talking about the tragic events surrounding the injury of comedian Tracy Morgan, and we talk about just what GM’s "Zora" trademark could mean for the future of Corvette.
After all that, we give our answers to your questions and no episode of the TopSpeed Podcast would be complete without Own, Drive, Burn. This week features a trio of classic muscle.
If there is something special you want to see us talk about, drop us an email at [email protected], hit us up on Twitter @TopSpeedPodcast — we follow back – or leave us a comment below.
We want to send out an extra-special thank you to those of you who watched our shenanigans live earlier today. Have a safe weekend, and we will see you next Thursday.
When I got the call to do the Gumball 3000, I had no idea what car I would be driving, what team I would be on, or even who the co-driver(s) could be. It was such a crazy opportunity, I couldn’t say no.
It turned out, that I had been attached to one of the major title sponsors AnastasiaDate, I would be in a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, and that my co-drivers would be a pair of Russian models from the site named Alisa and Margarita.
A wise man once told me, "you could make this job up, but nobody would believe you."
To get a better idea of who I was going to spending a large portion of my time with, I was given a full bio for each girl. If you are interested in learning more about these two attractive women I spent a few days getting to know, I have collected some of their best answers to the survey as well as a whole collection of photos of the two of them below.
Read on to find out more about Margarita and Alisa
It was only my second day of the Gumball 3000 festivities, but this was the first official day of the Rally. There is an entire collection of famous faces, blistering-fast cars and hundreds of miles for us to traverse.
As the morning started, we lined our car up on the starting grid with hundreds of other machines to get ready for the start of the Rally. Xzibit has been a large presence in the Gumball 3000 for many years now. He did not drivie in this year’s event, so he was asked to see every car off the line by waving the official Gumball flag to start the rally.
Other famous faces at the start line included Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey Garage, and of course Deadmau5 is here in his “Purrari” 458 Spyder with Tori Belleci of the MythBusters as his co-driver.
When the Team AnastasiaDate Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder set off the line we all piled into our Mercedes Sprinter chase vehicle and our journey had begun. Time to head to Atlanta.
Read on to find out more about my second day on the Gumball 3000 Rally
Happy Thursday, TopSpeed.com readers. If you haven’t had the chance to watch our live video podcast, or if you just prefer the audio format, allow me to present with you with Episode 014 of the TopSpeed.com Podcast.
Due to a last minute schedule change, we don’t have Justin on this cast, so it is just Mark and myself.
Weekly wheels is a pretty short segment this week with only one car. Mark drove the Chrysler Town & Country. To make up for my lack of a car, I make the announcement that I am going to drive in the Gumball 3000 rally this week. Expect my impressions of the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder next week.
When we get to the news, we talk about some great stuff from the upcoming 2015 Nissan Frontier, the potential for a hatchback McLaren and Hyundai’s crazy Veloster Midship Concept. We finish the news with a look at the future with the concept of solar roads.
For listener questions we talk about naming cars and some of our favorite engine notes. To finish the show, we do an Own, Drive, Burn with three of Mercedes’ most iconic supercars.
Overall I think it was a great show, and I hope you do as well. If you have any questions or comments about this podcast, or any of the other episodes we have, feel free to drop those down in the comments section. Don’t forget you can also find us on Twitter @TopSpeedPodcast, and you can also email us [email protected].
We look forward to seeing you next week with another LIVE broadcast. Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.
If you watched the live podcast this morning, you are well aware that I am heading to Miami to take part in this year’s Gumball 3000. As you read this I am likely in the air on my way to the sandy beaches and hot cars of Southern Florida.
While there are more than one hundred cars on this year’s grid, the one I will be spending my time with is a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. The car and team are owned by an online dating company called Anastasia Date, and two lovely ladies from the company are going to be the main pilots of the car on its 1500+/- journey to New York City.
The trip officially begins on Thursday, but there are lots of things to see and do on Wednesday, so expect to hear a lot from me.
After the jump I have included every social outlet I will be using, if you are interested in all the different ways to keep up with my live coverage. I have also included a photo of the lovely ladies who will be piloting the car along most of its journey. I was even nice enough to include some info about some of the other cool cars that are in the rally. Enjoy.
Feel free to Tweet in my general direction if you have any questions or comments about the car, the team, or the event. I may even try to do a live stream chat from the car if the cell signal holds up. Anything is possible.
Check the jump for the best ways to keep up with Moe during the rally, see some pretty cool people, and learn more about some of the teams.
***We will start this party at approximately 0945 US EASTERN TIME***
Ladies and Gentleman, you are invited to join us for a special early-week TopSpeed Podcast. The best part? It is totally live. Feel free to click the play button on the YouTube video to hang out with us; you can even chat and comment live to give us feedback and ask us questions.
I know the show is a few days early, but I have a special announcement to make. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it involves lots of horsepower and an epic road trip. You have to watch to see what the announcement is.
Beyond the special announcement, we are going to talk about Justin’s drive of the new 4-Series, the new McLaren P13 GT and the future of solar powered roads.
Mark is also going to regale us with tales of his time with the Chrysler Town & Country, and then we plan on discussing the changed coming to the 2015 Nissan Frontier and then we plan on covering the crazy Hyundai Veloster Midship Concept.
We may have another piece of news or two, and of course we will have viewer questions, and a round of Own, Drive, Burn.
Click that play button and hang out!
Lamborghini and Zagato have a long history of working together, having collaborated on a handful of past one-off models, including the first Zagato-bodied Lamborghini, the 3500 GTZ. From it, a 50-year relationship was born and has culminated in the latest collaboration: the Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato.
Based on the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4, considered as the best-selling Lamborghini in history, the 5-95 Zagato is essentially a new aesthetic look of the Gallardo LP570-4, designed by Zagato to evoke an instant classic look that shows the purest expression of Zagato’s unique coach-building skills. One look at it and you can immediately tell the noticeable differences between what a Gallardo looks like and what Zagato did to the 5-95.
Unfortunately, the supercar’s look is as far as the changes are concerned. Under its hood - and pretty much all mechanical functions - is still purely Lamborghini. What that means is you still get a 5.2-liter V-10 engine that produces 570 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque.
It would’ve been nice to have seen a little performance bump but we’re not complaining on how the entire collaboration came about. That’s one nice looking Zagato-commissioned Lamborghini 5-95, if we do say so ourselves.
Updated 08/07/2014: Zagato produced its second Lamborghini 5-95 which is now ready to leave the Zagato facility in Milano on its way to meet her lucky collector. This second unit is painted in a cool pearl yellow paint. (Farhan AlBastaki)
Click past the jump to read more about the Lamborghini 5-95 By Zagato.