Patrick C. Paternie

Fast as the Zenvo ST1 is—”ridiculously fast,” says Jesper Jensen, cofounder of Zenvo Automotive, the Danish company that builds the 233 mph supercar—it could be even faster. But Jensen had other priorities when he and automotive engineer and business partner Troels Vollersten began developing the ST1 eight years ago. “Most important is the design,” says […]

Although it has been re-engineered and reshaped to accommodate its ingeniously designed retractable top, the Ferrari 458 Spider is essentially a convertible version of the 458 Italia coupe. But the folks at Ferrari expect the new model to serve a completely different purpose and attract a different type of driver.     Typical Italia owners, […]

Good news for America’s children and vertically challenged who are going to ride shotgun in the Pagani Huayra: You will be able to do so without fearing harm from the car’s passenger-side airbag. But while Pagani tests a child-safe airbag for its $1.2 million, 700 hp supercar, the handful of U.S. drivers planning to become […]

Brute force has worked well for Hennessey Performance Engineering, the Texas tuner offering a lineup of such hairy-chested, speed-record-busting American muscle cars as an 800 hp Challenger and a 1,000 hp Camaro. However, the man who runs the company, John Hennessey, also understands the power of a light touch. Four years ago, in a supercar […]

Devotees of Porsche’s 911 might appreciate the automaker’s efforts to maintain the rear-engine sports car’s performance at a state-of-the-art level as it nears its 50th anniversary. But most never have fully forgiven Porsche for replacing the car’s air-cooled engine with a liquid-cooled model in 1998, an alteration necessitated by tightened international emission- and noise-control regulations. […]

At Porsche, a marque that has been building variations on the same 911 model year after year for nearly five decades, history tends to repeat. But no true car enthusiast would ever complain about that annual exercise in déjà vu. And certainly none was griping in March, when the carmaker unveiled the 918 Spyder Concept […]

 The audacious alloy vents along its front fenders, the 20-inch alloy wheels, the bulge flowing smartly down the middle of the hood, and the pair of ominous large-bore exhaust pipes poking out from below the rear bumper together suggest that Jaguar’s new Super V8 Portfolio is one fierce feline. This appearance is not a pose. […]

Driving the 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet is not an experience that will make you hold on to your hat, at least not literally. Surging through a narrow, curvy stretch of autobahn on the outskirts of Cologne at 140 mph with the top down and both hands clamped on the steering wheel, I have […]

Bentley Continental GT The British heavyweight has earned its worldwide acclaim. “It may be the best Bentley ever,” declared John Davis, host and executive producer of public television’s MotorWeek. Then he gave the Continental GT his program’s Dream Machine 2004 award. “L’automobile più bella del mondo,” voted journalists, designers, and stylists at Italy’s 2004 Design […]

In 1954, Mercedes-Benz rolled out a vehicle so unique and so revolutionary that it gained universal praise. Not only did the 300SL Gullwing capture the eyes and imagination of the general public, but the car also drew cheers from hard-core racers, auto enthusiasts, and engineers. Half a century of achievement and judgment has done nothing […]