"So what are everyone's plans for the weekend. Anything exciting?"
"Wedding."
"Going shopping for the dog."
"Need tiles. My sink got blocked and all the plumbers left behind is a gaping hole in the bathroom."
"Same thing I always do, nothing."
"I just got a copy of Ninja Gaiden 2. PlayStation marathon yo!"
"OK. Or, we can get five supercars and a gigantic closed off parking lot."
Suddenly, nobody had plans any more.
The finalists
Behind the scenes, it actually took the wheels team two weeks just to decide which cars will make up the group you see on these pages. After days of shouting over each other's voices about why and what should be included, we realised that our final, final list (after four other final lists) consisted of the prettiest motorised sculptures available in the region. So now it wasn't a supercar shootout. It was just an excuse to show off and pretend like we own these babies. We decided to call it the beauty pageant.
You've read about these cars before, maybe you've been fortunate enough to have a go, or at least enjoy the visceral experience from the passenger seat. The most beautiful cars available to rich people today, are the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Maserati Gran Turismo S, Audi R8, and Jaguar XKR — according to wheels.
Of course you may not agree. Dejan, for example, always thought the Audi R8 was as pleasing to look at as, say, fresh road kill. But it's grown on him. In fact, its mechanical prowess has transformed him. It's like if a really hideous girl fancies you. At first, you're repulsed. But then maybe you get to know her at an office dinner because they sit you next to her, and you realise she's beautiful, inside, and you're smitten. It's enough, you're in love. That's how it was with Dejan and the R8. Suddenly, he wasn't embarrassed of being seen with her. After driving to Ras Al Khaimah and back the day before the images on these pages were shot, he was actually proud of his German girlfriend. Suddenly, her inner beauty broke free, and when he got out at the end of that coastal blast, he stood back and marvelled at her beauty. Man, she's hot. So are all the others gathered here, he said.
And when you think about it, why not base a car purchase mostly on neck-twisting ability alone? You're inching through traffic all day anyway, may as well look good while at it.
So, what these five prove is that you can surely have beauty and brains together. Basically, they're all five-foot-eight blondes, but they have PhDs in theoretical physics too.
Amit's lambo
Admittedly, there was an immense amount of moaning, sulking and head-shaking in disbelief when I proposed that we include the Lamborghini LP 560-4 Spyder in our list of the best supercars on sale today. "It looks outdated," said Nitin (we borrowed him from our sister publication 4Men). Sony, meanwhile cribbed about it being too over the top. "It's a bit too Lambo-ish," he offered as a way of explanation. Er, right.
But what do they know. The LP 560-4 coupé is a stunner, but get rid of the roof and this baby Lambo transforms into what is easily one of the most striking supercars on the market. It's more attention hungry than Lady Gaga, has a fierce fighter jet face and sounds like one at full chat — pretty much everything we expect from a mega-dirham exotic.
A supercar isn't just about getting from A to B as quickly as possible. It's about arriving at your destination in a pantomime of noise, colour and a flurry of phone-cam flashes. And when it comes to this, the mad Italian is hard to beat.
There aren't spoilers sprouting out from every corner and there are no unnecessary grilles or scoops either. What's more, even the doors don't open skywards — they're more well, like the doors on your Yaris. What it has instead are subtle — can't believe I'm using that word to describe a Lambo — details that make you fall head first in love with it. Take the pointy Reventón-style nose or the Y-shaped elements in the tail lights, first seen in the Miura concept. They don't necessarily do much in terms of functionality, but it's just stuff that — if you're a petrolhead — you want in your life
With the top off it will turn more heads than say, Megan Fox with her top off.
But naturally with the price nudging the million dirham mark, it'd have to be more than a looker. And it is. It's no starry-eyed diva this Lambo; it has brains to match the awesome bod. The 5.0-litre V10 is replaced by a new 5.2-litre Iniezione Diretta Stratificata engine, or direct injection in plain speak, which means power is up to 560bhp. Lambo claims it is 31 per cent more aerodynamically efficient, 18 per cent more fuel efficient than before and tips the scales at 1,550kg dry — 20kg lighter than the previous Gallardo drop-top. So, this Lambo will rocket to 100kph from standstill in under four seconds and will only stop going once it hits the 324kph mark. In essence, the LP 560 Spyder hits all the right supercar buttons. It's an utterly brilliant car. I love it so much, I'm going to stick my neck out and say the LP 560-4 Spyder isn't merely one of the best supercars on sale, it is one of the best of all time.
Danny's aston
After becoming aware of wheels' collection, I was filled with anticipation, wondering which one of these cars I'd get to drive. Being a freelancer, I usually get the car no one else wants, so when I was thrown the key (if you can call it that) for the only V12 on board, all I could come up with was, "Yeah baby!".
Being a Brit myself, I had marvelled at this piece of craftsmanship when it was last at wheels HQ and only had the opportunity to take it for a quick (and when I say quick, I mean lightning fast) spin around the block. Now I was finally going to get up close and personal with this marvel of engineering.
Having popped the crystal key into the slot, foot on the brake and with a gentle push on the key, all 12 cylinders came to life with a mighty roar.
Did I stop to take in the exquisite hand stitched Alcantara interior or the plush suede lining? Did I even consider a quick flick through the infotainment system coupled with a 1,000W B&O sound package? Of course not. I threw down the accelerator and gave myself (and all those within a 10km radius) a chance to experience what 6.0-litres sound like at 7,000rpm when channeled through those beefy twin exhausts. I'm glad I had the windows up because when bouncing off the rev limiter this baby could actually raise the dead.
Each shift up the manual six-speed 'box pressed me further into the suede and carbon fibre bucket seat and the down shifts, with a bit of fancy foot work (double clutching with an intermittent blip of the go pedal) were just as pleasurable. Everything about this machine just had my pulse racing right from the beginning. It just begged me to throw it into the roundabouts in second gear, snaking the tail end upon exit. What a rush, what a car. This Aston just wants to play. It wants to be thrashed and driven hard and it revels in it.
Once on location, my heart rate slowed and the adrenaline waned, I was besotted.
Well, if I ever find a bank willing to give me a loan over the next, say, hundred years, I know where I'd be off to next.
Nitin's maser
The good news is that the Maserati Gran Turismo S drives as good as it looks. And what a looker it is. There is a certain lusciousness to the Gran Turismo S. Not too many cars can make men go weak in the knees like this one. Beautifully proportioned, there's not a line out of place here.
The inside matches up as well. The bright yellow trim contrasts superbly with the rest of the black Alcantara upholstery. The Italians have paid a lot of attention to little sartorial details and it works — like the racy fonts on the speedo dials and the contrast stitching on the upholstery.
What flows, effortlessly, from that 4.7-litre V8 engine is the power of 440 horses. The car does the 0-100kph sprint in 4.9 seconds and after having hustled it past tiny roundabouts, I'm inclined to believe the PR spiel that if you keep the gas pedal down for 24 seconds, it would roar past the kilometre-mark. Depending on your foot size, the distance between the brake pedal and the accelerator may be a source of worry — the two pedals seem to be kept apart grudgingly. It's hard enough trying to look the part in a car this good-looking; you needn't have to worry about hitting the wrong pedal when you have to brake. The gigantic paddle-shifters enable quicker gearshifts and the car can turn on the aggression in Sport mode — stiffer suspension, sharper throttle and a throatier exhaust, it transforms into a tarmac-eating monster.
You can only wish there weren't so many speedtraps around.
Sony's Jag
You might have noticed that the Jaguar XKR got the very last mention in the intro. That's because my colleague who wrote that bit thought the Jag was the least beautiful car of the lot. It might be true that it's not the best looking of the lot. It might also be true that over the years, the marque has found its badge appeal diminishing considerably from the glory days. But if your idea of a perfect car is one that's savagely fast, gets you just enough attention, is fun to drive, gives you a ride as comfortable as that of a luxury saloon, and annoys no one on the roads with its understated, elegant looks, then you need to look no further.
The engineers at Coventry have given it their best shot, but succeeded only to an extent at concealing the ferocious brute beneath the swooping lines penned by Ian Callum. Although the athletic stance hints at a beast ready to pounce, nothing can prepare you for the exhilarating surge that the 503 bhp V8 engine is capable of delivering. The XKR takes just 4.8 seconds to reach the 100kph mark, convincing us that Jaguar has finally stormed into supercar territory and justifying its inclusion in the list, if not just for its looks. I wouldn't say it is the best handler among the five, but the balanced chassis ensures it is precise enough to rein in all those horses without compromising on ride quality.
Driving the XKR is so much fun, as is the case with all the other cars featured here. But what really sets the Jag apart from the rest is its dual personality. None of the other cars match the XKR's ability to seamlessly make the switch from a luxurious highway cruiser with all the techno wizardry of the highest order to a tarmac-ripping hoodlum. The XKR, to me, is one of the finest supercars available. Much like the rest of the gang.
Dejan's audi
The best way to explain the R8, at least to justify my fondness of it to myself, is to think of a suitcase. A boring, steel, business case, which symbolises a life of dreary meetings, grey suits and pointy shoes, Bluetooth ear pieces and Powerpoint presentations made up entirely of graphs, pie charts and percentages. Gosh.
But what if that same suitcase, instead of carrying the annual report on the average company loss due to wasteful office paper use, or a perplexing proposal for the next hostile takeover, was filled with French nougat. You'd have it then.
That's the R8. Its silhouette has undoubtedly left a mark on the supercar world forever, it kicked off the fixation with LED daytime running lights and it was the basis for laughable Audi TTs with fake sideblades. One guy even built his own R8 using a Mercury Cougar. OK, maybe mentioning that isn't so flattering for the Audi…
But the sheer dynamism it portrays is undeniable. It's a perfect match for a dame stepping out wearing an evening gown and at the same time an intimidating shape at the local track day.
Its powerhouse is invigorating, not particularly powerful, mind you, but the energy and enthusiasm of the front tyres to claw at the road were influential enough to change even a shameless skeptic like me. My days with the R8 left me aching for more. Caressing its flat-bottomed steering wheel and powering it through corners with the back end — despite all-wheel drive — satisfying me with slides time and time again left me feeling like a boy after his first kiss.
Whether you're a fan or not, the Audi R8 is a game changer, because nobody else makes a mid-engined supercar this classy. Anybody can do outrageous, but try doing elegant. It's a truly spectacular car.
