Motoring

Car guys dream of acquiring their own personal track monster. Some are bare bones beasts, as comfortable as a ride on the Coney Island Cyclone; others bear witness to modern sport-luxury.

The suburbs of Austin, Texas are hilly, colorful and vast, and look especially pretty when seen out the windshield of the latest, all-new sports sedan. They’re even better looking when reduced to a racetrack blur.

If you know anything about Mercedes-Benz, you know that they deliver amped up AMG versions of their cars (and even did so for the now-deceased fat R-Class), so it comes as no surprise that the newly released CLA Class has received similar treatment in the form of the CLA45 AMG.

If Ferrari Spiders and Lamborghinis Spyders seem like commonplace cabriolets to you, and “Overkill” also happens to be your middle name, you’ll want to get in touch with the folks at upscale tuner Brabus for their latest birthing from the fifth circle of hell, the 800 Roadster.

Short of a polar bear club dip in frigid waters or a morning yoga session with a Victoria’s Secret model, nothing gets you started like a hot cup of joe… or 321 horsepower to the rear wheels. We at least imbibed in the latter two as we visited a couple of Chicago coffee spots in the new Cadillac ATS 3.6L Performance.

The wraps just came off the Corvette Stingray Convertible, which will be sold alongside the hardtop in the fourth quarter of 2013. Powered by the same potent 6.2-liter LT1 V8 engine with 450 hp, the convertible sheds the metal for a fully electronic top that can be deployed or retracted at speeds of up to 30 mph.

On the verge of being released for the drooling public in Geneva tomorrow, the Lamborghini Veneno has enough hard edges, wings and vents to make the prospect of a carnauba wax a serious headache.

If military-grade Humvees or the “run-of-the-mill” bores you to tears and you simply can’t afford an M1 Abrams tank for your off-pavement adventures, look to Mercedes-Benz and their perfectly over-the-top G63 AMG 6×6. Yes folks, that’s six-wheel-drive, with enough torque to warp the earth’s crust (if that’s your thing).

If ever there was a hot-hatch-segment-defining car, the VW GTI would most likely be it. And perhaps aside from the heavy and globule-like Mk4, each one has been coveted in its field.

Puerto Rico is a peculiar place. It’s not an American state but is under US law.

Aston Martin and Bertone have partnered up once again to bring you automotive nirvana, this time in the form of the one-off Aston Martin Jet 2+2. The rakish shooting brake (station wagon) is based on the beautiful Rapide S four door coupe and will be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.

The Volkswagen XL1 shows making a hybrid doesn’t mean its design has to be inspired by a bar of soap. Largely unchanged from the 2011 concept car, the XL1 will show up again in Geneva this March.

VW’s 2014 Beetle GSR is a resurrection of a badder bug — and proudly sports a 210 horsepower 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbo.