This was my second time going to the annual Barrett Jackson Auto Auction and Car Show, which plays host to 250,000 people every year. It is a week long event that features some of the most amazing classic cars, modern day super cars, and even vintage and new race cars. Truly an epic event for anyone who is a car nut like me.

There is a new class of super-ultra-cars that are incredibly light weight, high in horsepower, and well, insanely fast. Those are usually my favorite cars to hang around, so I took most of my pics/video of these rare, exotic monsters.

I took my Flip Mino HD and digital camera to the event grab some footage/pics. Some of the most epic vehicles:

Koenigsegg CCX
4.7 L twin-supercharged V8
806 hp and 782 ft-lb of torque
Price: $1.2 million

Gumpert Apollo
640hp Audi V8 Engine.
Weight: 2400lbs
0-60 in 3.0 seconds.
Price: $425,000

Cadillac LMP-02
600 hp Twin Turbocharged V8
1984lbs (it’s a damn racecar)
Price: Auctioned off for only $145,000. This is the deal of a century. Some day this car may be worth MILLLLLLLLIONS of dollars!

Better start saving up!

My friend, Kieron of Here.org.uk and WhiteCarWorld.com, recently interviewed some of the top business bloggers (including Shoemoney, John Chow Neil Patel and many others – even me) about their daily drivers and ultimate-if-money-was-no-object fantasy cars. It is a great read if you are a car-nut like me! Kieron is the proud owner of a white (of course!) Range Rover SE Supercharged. Sweet car, Kieron!

You can read the full article here:

Internet stars and their cars!

According to the owner, Ron Van Horssen:

Owners of super premium automobiles often drive them less than 1,000 miles each year, making it hardly worth the time and trouble to maintain them full-time. Van Horssen Group solves this problem – and goes far beyond the limits of traditional ownership – by offering national access to magnificent vehicles, which are impeccably maintained and delivered to your locations whenever you want to drive them.

What do you guys think? Is this a practical way to drive these supercars, or would you prefer to own them individually?

For more info: Van Horssen Group

Koenigsegg is a relatively new supercar producer, releasing a several primetime cars in the past few years, including the 655 HP CC8S, folowed by the 806 HP CCR and finally the American-ized version, the CCX which complies with US impact regulations, as well as lower octane fuel. Still, even being tuned for the U.S., Koenigsegg was still able to push out over 800 HP from the CCX, quite impressive, by any supercar standard, especially that the car weighs 2600 lbs, much less than the Enzo’s 3000 lb curb weight.

What’s most amazing is the new CCXR, which runs on Biofuel and produces over 1000 HP. Read more at CarZi…

BTW, CarZi is getting off to a great start! On our second day, we received over 100 unique visitors. Today it looks like we will get even more than that! Thanks everyone for visiting the site and if you haven’t already, check it out, especially if you love cars!

After over a month in planning, I am proud to finally announce the launch of CarZi!

CarZi is the second blog from the Zi Media Network – owned and operated by 13-year old problogger David Wilkinson. I have been working with David on upgrading TechZi over the past few months and CarZi is the first blog we are co-authoring, along with two mad fellas from Canada – Vinay and Anthony from Madwhips.com.

CarZi’s focus will be all things car-related including – aftermarket, American cars, auctions, car buying, concept cars, driving, European cars, gadgets, garage, energy-friendly, hi-res photos, Japanese cars, maintenance, advertising, spy photos, tech, videos and my favorite – Formula 1.

If you love cars, like I do, you will go CRAZY for CarZi. We plan out pumping out more than 50 articles over the next month from our four writers, among myself.

Go visit CarZi, join our MyBlogLog network, and subscribe to our RSS!

You would think that a self-made billionaire who could drive any car they ever dreamed of would choose a Bugatti or Ferrari. After all, even the exorbitant running costs of those vehicles are peanuts for a billionaire. You would be surprised, however, to find out that some of the richest people in the world rather drive a Buick than a Bugatti.

For example, Microsoft chaiman Steve Ballmer, drives a 1998 Lincoln Continental. Clearly, he is not concerned with impressing his cohorts at Microsoft.

The second wealthiest person in the world, Warren Buffet, recently traded in his 2001 Lincoln Town Car for a 2006 Cadillac DTS. Bill Bartmann, author of Billionaire Secrets to Success, says that “Typically, it’s not the billionaires that are seeking status with a Lamborghini or a Ferrari in the garage, but the people worth $10 million to $50 million.”

How about Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin? Well, even though he is the 26th richest person in the world with a net-worth of around $16.6 billion, his ride of choice is the Toyota Prius. Says Tom Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, “His vehicle of choice [a Toyota Prius] reflects his desire to stay on the leading edge of green technology.”

Many billionaires, it seems, are more concerned with philanthropy and family values than flashiness and impressing the non-elite. Very noble, however, if I was a billionaire, it would be hard for me not to drive a Bugatti Veyron to and from work. Maybe these billionaires just do not have a passion for automotive perfomance.

Read more at ForbesAutos.com…

Then on Monday or Tuesday, my roommate’s dad is going to help me pull the motor out of my 1993 Mazda RX-7. My motor blew up a few months ago and I haven’t had the time to fix it until now. I am going to be rebuilding the motor with stronger parts and shooting for around 450-500whp. Before, it had a stock motor but with a single turbo (among other mods) and dyno’d at 392whp @ 14psi.

If you want to learn more about my car, check out this project gallery from Extreme Performance, the shop that I used to bring my car to when I lived in Washington.

Here are some recent pics:

Hopefully my car will be put back together by May or June. I have been waiting forever for it to be running again, but once it is, it will be worth it. Not to mention, a Ferrari-killer, especially with 500whp!

There have been rumors for years now that Toyota has been prepping a replacement for its flagship Supra sportscar.

The Supra was one of the most popular tuner cars of the ’90′s and continues to be regarded as one of the ultimate Japanese rockets.

At the recent Detroit Auto Show, Toyota shocked the world with what may be the actual Supra replacement. Currently dubbed the FT-HS concept, this super-Toyota is actually a hybrid! It is powered by both an electric motor and a 3.5 liter V6 motor, good for over 400 horsepower. You know this is car is coming close to supercar territory when it promises to propel you to 60 mph in around 4 seconds!

This sports car is a 2+2, meaning that it seats four. These photos don’t show us how big the back seat actually is, but I’m assuming that it’s painfully small. Rather than call the FT-HS a 2+2, Toyota should just say that the FT-HS has a deep package tray behind the front seats.

Many modern sportscars have engines in the 300-400 horsepower range, but the acceleration isn’t always there as today’s rides are heavier than ever. The FT-HS, on the other hand, is designed to be as light as possible. Given that, it is impressive that the FT-HS contains an automatically retractable hard-top!

Personally, I think this car is an amazing achievement in engineering. It will get excellent gas mileage being a hybrid and promises to be a true enthusiast’s sports car. Now you can impress your environmentally-conscious mom and wow your girlfriend at the same time!

Before getting too excited about this wonderful offering, remember, it is still a concept, meaning it has not gotten the final word to go to production just yet. Toyota should be revealing more details about the FT-HS concept within the next 6 months, including its planned release date.

A few people have asked what the estimated price point might be. I have read several places that Toyota is looking to price this car in the mid 30′s. Seems a lot more reasonable than the last car I wrote about — the 8 Million Dollar Mercedes-Maybach!

Click on a picture for a larger (1400×1050) desktop-size view.

The engineers at Mercedez-Maybach have built a truly amazing supercar. The Maybach Exelero is a one-of-a kind, handbuilt, 700 horsepower monster. The Exelero was originally commission by the Fulga Tire Company, who wanted to build a car of vast size and capability to prove they could make extra large low profile tires that could carry 6000 lbs and go 200 mph. The final cost? Eight million dollars. No other sports car in the world has tires this large.

What kind of vast size are we talking about? This car is 19 feet long, has 23 inch wheels and a gas mileage of 2.5 mpg at full throttle. Maybach insists that another Exelero will never be built. However, the worldwide reaction to the car has been so strong that Mercedes execs admitted they are considering a Maybach two-seater, although officially “there are no immediate plans.”

Click on a photo for a larger (1600×1200) desktop-size view.

The Porsche Carrera GT is regarded as one of the premier supercars in the world. Its German engineers have managed to pump out 612 horsepower out of the 5.7 liter mid-engined V10. It tops out at 205 mph and you can find one for around $400,000. This is a backbreakingly fast car, but the mad scientists at Gemballa, a Porsche tuning company, decided this was not enough.

Gemballa slapped twin-turbos on the GT’s V10, upping the power to an unbelievable 1000 horsepower and 886lb-ft of torque. All this power needs extra downforce, so they proceeded to design entirely new bodywork. With the GEMBALLA body modifications, the Mirage GT fits perfectly into the starting line-up of any FIA-GT race. Not least also because of the materials used by Gemballa – all parts of the body of the Mirage GT are made of carbon fiber, a material common in the world of racing. The new hardtop has an integrated roof scoop to provide cold air for Mirage GT’s the massive twin turbos.

Gemballa requires $2 million for the Mirage GT conversion. A hefty pricetag, but this car will be able to smoke any modern day supercar, including the almighty Bugatti Veyron, which weighs 1000 lbs more. Porsche produced 1500 Carrera GT’s, a relatively high number for such an exotic and expensive car. So if you ever find your Carrerra GT becoming commonplace, you will always be able to stand out from the crowd with the Mirage GT conversion.

Click on a photo for a larger (1600×1200) desktop-size view.

Cars International is selling four of Michael Schumacher’s winning formula one race cars. All have been fully restored and are operational. The price? Only $6.5 million. Quite a steal if you think about getting four of the fastest cars in the world, all driven by the best driver in the world. Aw, if only I had the money, these cars would be going into my museum, but all with occasional track use!

Quote from the website:

Having retired as the most successful Grand prix driver in history, Michael Schumacher competed in two hundred and fifty Grand Prixs beating every record ever set. Ninety-one victories, one hundred and fifty four podium finishes, sixty-eight pole positions, seventy-six fastest laps and seven World Championships.

The opportunity now exists to own without doubt the most important cars of Michael Schumacher’s career. A unique and irreplaceable collection – each car fully restored, documented and complete with everything required to run and drive. Included in the sale will be a test at a private circuit, overseen by Michael Schumacher’s Teammate at Benetton, Martin Brundle. The test will include seat fittings, and four sets of driver’s overalls in the different team liveries. For the new owner we have also commissioned a hand built model of each car complete with a ‘certificate’ of ownership signed by Michael Schumacher.

More info here…