Anderson Germany's Murdered-Out Maserati

It's been a while since I made a post on FTLOS. I have been quite busy for the past few weeks, and hadn't intended on posting again until mid-August, but this particular car caught my eye. Without further ado, I present to you: The Maserati Gran Turismo S Superior Black Edition.

When I first saw this car my jaw dropped, and I had to pause momentarily to wipe away the pool of drool quickly forming in my lower lip. This is a seriously gorgeous car.

The Gran Turismo S Superior Black Edition (that's a mouthful) is brought to us by Anderson Germany - a tuning company specializing in the design luxury performance cars. Although Anderson Germany isn't the most intense horsepower-enhancing tuning company in the world, their frequent use of flawless matte colour-schemes makes the aesthetics of their project cars stand out from the crowd.

Exterior mods include a number of carbon fiber additions, a new hood and 21 inch black beauty's on all fours. The interior received special treatment as well, with intricate stitching patterns, carbon fiber accents and of course - a Playstation 3 - as if you would be able to pry your attention away from the car long enough to play games.

This particular Gran Turismo was aslo given a performance boost to go with the stunning looks. It was given a complete ECU retuning, and a lightweight exhaust system with a race-built catalytic converter. The total power gain is a respectable boost from 440 to 492 horsepower. Combine all of this with the incredible black-out job, and you have one street-ready stealth fighter.

I have long been a fan of Maserati ENTIRELY because of this car. Seeing it blacked out and modded in this fashion has added the Gran Turismo S to my "To Buy" list. Anderson Germany, you can expect to hear from me in the future.

The McLaren Boom

For anyone who follows the performance automotive world, McLaren is not a new name. Since 1992, McLaren has been synonymous with the McLaren F1. In 1998, the F1 was the fastest road car on the planet, reaching a top speed of 231 mp/h (372 km/h)! Most recently, McLaren has given us the incredible MP4-12C. Revealed in 2009, this 3.8 litre mid-engine twin-turbocharged V8 changed the supercar game as we know it, and went head to head against the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Lamborghini Gallardo with a V8.

What makes the V8-powered MP4-12C so powerful is the amount of innovative racing technology being used in a road car, such as its lightweight, one-piece "Carbon MonoCell" carbon fibre chassis. The MP4-12C also features F1-inspired technology like brake steer, which brakes the inside rear wheel during fast cornering to reduce under-steer, and a paddle-shifting system which features McLaren’s “Pre-Cog” technology. Pre-Cog allows the driver to pull halfway back on one of the paddles to prepare the transmission for an up-shift, which occurs instantaneously when the paddle is fully engaged.

If the rest of the McLarens are anything like the MP4-12C, I'm in.

After having a partnership with Mercedes for several years, McLaren had planned to add 3 new cars to their production line, but they were sadly aborted in 2005. Now, McLaren is back to give it another shot before 2015. Rumours indicate that McLaren will be revealing a new car each year, both above and below the MP4-12C’s price point. McLaren plans to make both a hypercar (with the price range well over half of a million dollars), and a direct competitor to the Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R.

It’s crazy to think that less than 5 years ago I, and many other people, had thought the glory days of McLaren had passed. Today, I cannot wait to get a chance to drive the MP4-12C, or to get a look at the upcoming models. Look out Lamborghini and Ferrari, the British are coming!