Exotics

A Texas startup has finally pulled the wraps off its 40-mpg, 450-horsepower Scorpion roadster, a hand-built hydrogen-burning "eco-exotic" that is sexier than Angelina Jolie and has the performance to provide more grins than nitrous oxide.

Ronn Motor Company unveiled the Scorpion today at the big SEMA, or Speciality Equipment Market Association, show in Las Vegas, which may be the perfect place to debut so flashy — and innovative — a car. The company hopes the Scorpion does for hydrogen what the Tesla Roadster has done for batteries.

Don't even think about trying to outrun the cops in Lazio, Italy, unless you can do 204 mph because the boys in blue are rollin' in a 560-horsepower Lamborghini Gallardo that'll do 203.

The Italian automaker today handed Antonio Manganelli, head of the Italian State Police, the keys to a Gallardo LP560 "Polizia" model that makes the Dodge Charger and Carbon E7 police cars look like a Crown Vic on its last legs. No word where Manganelli is now, but somehow we suspect the 30 officers personally trained by Lamborghini's test drivers will be waiting quite awhile for their turn behind the wheel.

After taunting us for weeks with teaser pics of the four-seater it's bringing to the Paris Motor Show, Lamborghini has pulled the wraps of the Estoque and suggested it could be -- get this -- a hybrid.

Lamborghini's teased us with another photo of the mystery car it's bringing to the Paris Motor Show, and a close look suggests Sant'Agata is about to unveil a sedan.

The Bugatti Veyron is the world's most expensive production car and the most exclusive thing on four wheels. But with a top speed of "just" 253 mph, it's just shy of being the fastest car on Earth. The SSC Ultimate Aero snatched that title from the Veyron a year ago. Bugatti wants it back and figures boosting the car's power by 349 horsepower ought to do the trick.

A study commissioned by a phallically named insurance company proves beyond all doubt that the unbridled roar of an Italian supercar turns women on but the soft purr of a fuel-efficient econobox doesn't stimulate anyone's MPG-spot.