They’re gorgeous, sleek, sexy, expensive, and high-performance. They’re supercars with curves and colors that scream performance. My friend Ryan over at RideLust has put together a drool-inducing gallery of over a dozen top high-performance supercars. They include the following cars:

1. SSC Ultimate Aero TT
2. Bugatti Veyron
3. McLaren F1
4. Jaguar XJ220
5. Hennessey Viper Venom 1000
6. Koenigsegg CCR
7. Dauer 962 LM
8. Melling Hellcat
9. Lotec Sirius
10. Saleen S7 Turbo
11. TVR Cerbera Speed 12
12. Ruf CTR-3
13. Ultima GTR
14. Bristol Fighter T
15. Porsche 997 Turbo
16. Nissan GT-R

For those lucky few of you who will one day own one of these, I salute you now. For the rest of us, have a look at this great collection. Keep a napkin handy, to wipe the drool.

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Upon seeing Bombardier’s 2008 Can-Am Spyder, I realized that I can finally pursue a motorcycle license and not feel that I’ll be endangering myself - at least for city driving. The Spyder, pictured above, is neither car nor motorcycle, but depending on the country you live in, you’ll need a driver’s license for one or the other. Up here in Canada, where Bombardier was founded, we need a motorcycle license. In the U.S., most states where it’s being offered require just a regular car driver’s license.

The vehicle, whose first production model was delivered to Jay Leno, is relatively affordable (US$15-16.5K). It might look odd with its two front wheels and a single back wheel - sort of a reverse trike - but to me it looks like a thing of beauty. And safety. I’m thinking of the streetcar tracks in Toronto and how less likely the Spyder is to get trapped in them than a motorcycle, thanks to very wide tires.

Details:

• 5-speed manual transmission, or add a clutchless thumb-shift.
• Approx. 700 pounds.
• Uses a BRP-Rotax 990 engine, 106 hp @ 8500 rpm.
• 0-60 in 4.5s
• Top speed: 110 mph
• Power steering with computer-controlled hydraulic power.
• Space for two helmets.
• Bosch stabilization system, antilock brakes.

The only problem is, the Spyder is sold out through this spring. Oh, that and the fact that I need to get a motorcycle license, and the only two schools nearby have often had a waiting list of a year or two. Now excuse me while I work my ass off to save money for my shiny charcoal Spyder.

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Jaqueline Mitchell wrote in Forbes earlier this month about what your car says to the opposite sex. This is exactly the type of article I won’t normally read because it just speaks to how shallow the whole idea is. Whatever Mitchell says in it might apply to some people - those who have money and can actually buy the car they want. But what about the average person? I know from long experience, and from talking to both car sales people and car enthusiasts, that most people buy a car for any of the following reasons:

1. The salesperson suggested.
2. A family member suggested it.
3. It was on sale.
4. It was there in the lot and the salesperson offered some extras at no cost.
5. It was functional.
6. They had a car of the same model before. (See all of the above.)
7. Insert custom reason here.

On the other hand, if you have money, you’ll buy the car you want. And then and only then will nonsensical, shallow articles like Mitchell’s have any relevance. Personally, I prefer Bardiac’s humorous explanation of what your car says about you.

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Originally, I was going to just blog about how, now that I have a car - similar to the Dodge Caliber SXT that you see above - after over five years without, I feel incredibly free. (Prior to this car-free period, I had access to a car for most of my life since become a legal driver.) But Alison at Drawing Out the Color, wrote a post about living car-free, pointing out the good and the bad that she’s experienced. I’ve taken her six points and rephrased them to suit my list, then added my own. So I suggest you read her article first. My general premise is that while there are many cars to lust after, you can go for affordable and functional and not feel guilty.

1. Biking is not always a healthy way to commute. In the small city I currently live in, cycling is extremely dangerous. It’s considered one of the more dangerous places in N. America because working commuters returning from Toronto traffic jams everyday don’t shift mental gears and still drive aggressively upon entering city limits. I’ve even seen police officers in their cruisers cut off children at crosswalks, and other drivers intentionally splash pedestrians. Sometimes, biking or being a pedestrian is not healthy.

2. Getting groceries can be a problem. You can say that again. For me, I either accept a ride with a family member once a week or I have to walk to a grocery store and return by bus. But transit in this city stinks and it’s actually faster to walk, provided you’re not weighed down by a lot of groceries. Except since it’s a university town with a special “ride free” pass to all students (as of a few years back), don’t expect anyone to give up their seat.

You’re then limited as to how many bags of groceries you should safely buy, since you might have to stand. A backpack sometimes helps, but you’d need a hardshell case, which annoys other riders. Now that’s just groceries. I’m lucky to have had close access to laundry facilities in that time.

3. Options: zipcar. Zipcar is one option if it’s available, but not here that I’m aware of. However, there are car sharing programs, though they require a $300-600 deposit, which I didn’t have available until more recently.
…click here to read more

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Business Week has a great photo gallery of sexy supercars ranging from the affordable to the “keep dreaming” category. (Some but not all of these are in the list of most expensive cars available in the U.S.) The pic above is of the Tesla Roadster, which comes in at a relatively affordable $98,950. While it does zero-to-60 in only 4 seconds, it only has a top speed of 125 mph.

The rest of the cars vary widely in price, but many of them seem near dead ringers of classic sports cars of the past. When I look at the gallery, I see the E-type roadster, various porsche models, and hybrids of yet more sports cars gone by.

Speaking of supercars, Warner Bros’ Mach 5 (from the upcoming movie Speed Racer) is on display at the Detroit Auto Show starting today (Jan 13) through Thursday (Jan 17).

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Tata is one of those companies that makes just about everything. Like their counterpart Honda from Japan, India’s Tata has their hand in a lot of different industries for a long time. Now their Tata Motors division has set their sights on building the world’s cheapest car.

It’s planning to price the car at Rs 1-Lakh (100,000 Indian Rupees, or just about US$3,000, give or take a bit.) It’ll be tough competition, but they hope to displace purchases in India of the more expensive “budget” Maruti 800 (made by a Japanese-owned branch of Suzuki).

While there are no doubt many families in India that would appreciate the availability of an affordable car, gasoline has been expensive for decades, and traffic is already insane in many urban centers, where cars, trucks, rickshaws, scooters all vie for position, often having to dodge clusters of lounging cows. An even cheaper car might not actually be a good idea. On the other hand, having lost several close relatives due to motorcycle and scooter accidents, I’m of two minds about this.

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