I just completed a 101 post series.  In fact, I wrapped it up just about an hour ago.  I have been working on it for almost a year…  When I started, I was going to “dribble” the posts at random times, but I figured out after a few weeks that I needed to schedule the posts.  After that, they were mostly posted on Wednesdays and Sundays.  In fact, for the last nine months or so, I have been posting these on LaneBailey.com every Wednesday and Sunday… I haven’t had to think very hard about what to post on those days, because I had the list.

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Wow…  the last part of this series…  and I’m already thinking of new ones to do…

But let’s wrap this one up, first!

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I love to see the movies of Gran Prix Racing from the 1920s through the 1950s.  It was an amazing time.  The cars were magical, and the drivers had personalities that were larger than life… not to mention names that just sounded cool…  Fangio, Nuvolari, Fagioli, Ferrari and Ascari.

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There are few cars that are true Supercars.  And in that rarefied company, there is one that is a step above.  With a top speed of 253mph, the Bugatti Veyron is truly at the top of the heap…

The price comes in around $1.5M.  That is a LOT of coin for something that could be smacked into a guardrail.  But the technology is immense.

To begin with, the 1000 hp W18 (yes, THREE banks of six cylinders each) with 4 turbos.  Then, later the engine was changed to a V16, still with 1000 hp.

Of course, as noted by Top Gear’s James May, at full throttle there is only enough fuel to run about 12 minutes, a little over 2mpg.  But the tires ($10,000 for a set of the special Michelins) are reputed to only last 15 minutes at that speed… 2,500 miles of “normal” driving.

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Image via Wikipedia

I can’t believe there are only a handful of entries left in this series.  It has been almost a year…  I’m trying to figure out what is going to follow this…  Anyway…

There is one car in particular that defines performance sedans…  It is THE yardstick by which all other performance sedans are measured.  Some have begun to eclipse its performance, but that may not be for long.  Whether we are talking about Infiniti, Lexus, AMG, Pontiac (the G8GXP is knocking on the door), Cadillac or any other company… the King of the Hill to be knocked off is the BMW M5.

Beginning with a 3.5L I-6 engine (the higher performance variant from the BMW M-1) and now sporting a 5.0L V-10, these have been flagships of BMW performance for almost 25 years.

The current generation of cars have some impressive numbers…

• 0-60 in 4.1 seconds
• 0-100 in 10.1 seconds
• 193mph top speed with the limiter removed (155mph limited)
• Priced near $90,000…

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