Exotics|Supercars

After a few decades off the radar, brown appears to be making a comeback as an automotive color. Cars ranging from the Volkswagen Jetta to the Lexus LFA are available in a shade of the muddy hue, and there’s even a Facebook group (of which we are a member, in the interest of full disclosure) dedicated to the rich history and current renaissance of gravy-tinged transportation devices. Yes, brown is back.

However, if you’re still in need of convincing, one of the regular exterior color options for Lamborghini’s latest flagship, the Aventador, is matte brown. And rather than just ignoring this color and model combination, German tuner Wheelsandmore is embracing it by offering a tuned Aventador dubbed the Chocolate LP777-4. And the name isn’t the only thing that makes us salivate.

Historically speaking, the convertible versions of Ferrari berlinettas (i.e. coupes) have been heavier, flimsier and altogether wussier than their fixed-roof brethren. Sure, they’re great for enjoying the fresh air (and the siren song of the engine), and they make it easier for people to see who the Richie Rich behind the wheel is. But if you were into performance, you were better off with a coupe.

That changes, however, with the 458 Spider. The stiff structure and remarkably light retractable hardtop mean the performance drop-off versus the 458 Italia is miniscule. Of course, that performance gap could be made smaller still, or even turned into a performance advantage. And that is precisely what Novitec Rosso has done.

The first two generations of the Dodge Viper (Some sources break those two generations into two further generations.) were brash, brutal and downright angry. These thundering 10-cylinder neo-Cobras, both open- and closed-top, routinely beat up on all manner of European supercars, not to mention crosstown rival Corvette. What’s more, these beating occurred on the street and on the track, the latter being where race-prepped Vipers scored numerous wins, including three consecutive GT class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the overall win at the 2000 24 Hours of Daytona.

However, the Dodge Viper’s story came to an end on July 1, 2010, as the last example rolled out of the Conner Avenue Assembly plant in Detroit. Scarcely two months later, though, word came down that a new third (or fifth; take your pick) generation Viper would be coming in a couple years. Well, now it’s a couple years later, and the new Viper is indeed here. A lot has stayed the same with the new car, but a lot has changed, too.

Ah, to be an international skiing superstar. Getting to travel the world, fly down snow-cloaked slopes at freeway speeds, thrill audiences, prove your mettle against the world’s best, thrill thousands upon thousands of fans and, at the end of the day, decompress from all the occupation’s stresses in a hot tub with your favorite snowbunny (or snowbunnies). What a life…

Swedish ace Jon Olsson probably does most of those things listed above, as well as being involved in multiple skiing-related business ventures, including his own goggle company, Yniq. He also has a serious supercar jones, one that he has satisfied in the past with a customized, rooftop-ski-box-equipped Lamborghini Gallardo. Now, though, he’s rolling in the Gallardo’s Teutonic sister, the Audi R8 V10. But as you can clearly see, this is hardly your factory standard R8.