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News & Market Notes
Launches, market shifts and the odd bespoke commission — luxury and exotic car news, read through a Dubai lens.
Spyker Just Ended a Decade of Silence -- Here's Why Its Comeback Car Is Worth the Wait
The Dutch marque that turned an aircraft-factory merger into a design philosophy is back after years of silence, with a hand-built, manual-only supercar limited to 25 examples.
A One-of-One McLaren F1 GTR Just Sold for $34.6 Million -- the Most Ever Paid for a British Car
The only McLaren F1 GTR ever painted in the factory's "Pop Art" livery, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason's for 25 years, sold at Monterey for $34.6 million -- the highest price ever paid for a British car at auction.
Hennessey's Newest Hypercar Sold Out in Four Hours -- and It Doesn't Have a Single Screen
Hennessey's screen-free, gated-manual Blackbird sold out all 71 build slots within four hours of its Monterey Car Week debut, proof that the hottest trend in hypercars right now is going backward, not forward.
A Miami Collector's Newest Pagani Is Painted With Real Gold and Moon Rock — and Named After a Da Vinci Painting
Miami-based collector Kris Singh's latest one-off Pagani Utopia commission is finished in a paint containing genuine gold shavings and crushed lunar meteorite, a formula three years in the making and named after a Leonardo da Vinci painting.
Koenigsegg Just Built the GT1 Racer It Was Never Allowed to Race — and Sold All 70 in Hours
Koenigsegg has revealed the CCGT1, a 1,600-hp road-legal tribute to the CCGT, a GT1 Le Mans racer the Swedish marque built in 2008 but was forced to shelve before it ever competed. All 70 examples sold out within hours of the reveal.
Range Rover's Newest SV Bespoke Trio Is Capped at 250 — One for Every Year of American Independence
Range Rover's SV Bespoke division built three geography-inspired configurations — Desert Ember, Summit Frost and Ocean Crest — to mark America's 250th anniversary, limited to 250 examples in total. Here's what the trio, and the price-no-object commissioning network behind it, means for GCC buyers.
Brabus Just Built a 1,000-HP Tribute to the Founder Who Never Got to Drive It
Brabus has unveiled the Bodo Cabriolet, an open-top, 1,000-hp V12 tribute to late founder Bodo Buschmann, limited to 77 units and based on the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante — the fulfilment of an idea he and his son discussed nearly two decades ago.
Gordon Murray's Newest Supercar Is Capped at 64 -- the Exact Number of McLaren F1s Ever Built
Gordon Murray Special Vehicles has revealed the S1, a three-seat, central-driving-position V12 manual supercar built as a spiritual successor to the McLaren F1. Production is capped at 64 cars -- matching the F1's total road-car run -- and every build slot was gone before the reveal.
Bugatti's Newest One-Off Is the Lowest Car It's Ever Built — and It's Named After a Medieval War Horse
Bugatti's Programme Solitaire has delivered its third one-of-one commission: the Destrier, a Bolide-based, 1,600-PS hypercar reshaped into a road-legal sculpture and named for a knight's armored warhorse. At just 39.4 inches tall, it's the lowest car Bugatti has ever built.
Ferrari's First Electric Car Just Sold for $40 Million — the Most Anyone's Ever Paid for a New Car at Auction
A bespoke 2026 Ferrari Luce "Tailor Made" — chassis 0 of Ferrari's first fully electric car, designed with input from Jony Ive and Marc Newson — sold for $40 million at RM Sotheby's Monterey charity auction, more than 36 times its $1.1 million estimate. Proceeds benefit the Ferrari Foundation's educational programs.
Rolls-Royce Just Turned Its Cullinan Into a Graffiti Artist's Canvas — Here's Why All Five Sold Before They Were Shown
Rolls-Royce unveiled Black Badge Cullinan by Cyril Kongo at Monterey Car Week: five Private Commissions with cabin surfaces hand-painted by the Paris street artist, each allocated to a collector before the cars ever reached Pebble Beach.
Porsche Just Spent Three Years Turning a GT2 RS Into a Modern Moby Dick
Porsche's Sonderwunsch department has unveiled the Flachbau RS — a one-off, 700-PS 911 GT2 RS reshaped into a slantnose tribute to the 935/78 "Moby Dick" Le Mans racer, with a gutted, weight-saved interior built for a single customer. Here's why the interior delete says more than the bodywork.
McLaren's Newest Supercar Brings Back the Manual Gearbox — Its First Since the F1
McLaren unveiled the McL 6GT at Monterey Car Week — a carbon-bodied supercar reviving Bruce McLaren's unbuilt M6GT dream, complete with the brand's first true manual gearbox since the F1. Only about 500 will be built, with deliveries starting in 2028.
Mercedes-AMG's First Standalone Model Is a 1,153-HP Electric SUV
Mercedes-AMG has teased its first-ever standalone model — not derived from a Mercedes-Benz donor car — a full-size electric performance SUV codenamed Born in Affalterbach, with a triple-motor GT 63 variant rated at 1,153 hp. Here's why that matters for Dubai's biggest-selling segment.
Ferrari's Newest One-Off Took Two Years and Rewrote an SF90's Entire Shape
The Ferrari CZ26 — a Special Projects one-off built for a single US client on an SF90 Stradale base, with a completely reworked two-box silhouette and 1970s industrial design cues — debuted at Pebble Beach as Ferrari headlines the 75th Concours. Here's what two years of development actually buys.
Aston Martin Built Three DB12 S Coupes Around One 1951 Race Number
Q by Aston Martin's DB12 S VMF trio — three one-off coupes named for the British plates of 1951 Le Mans-era DB2 racers — debuted at the 75th Pebble Beach Concours. Here's why building a story into a car, not just a colour, is the bespoke commission worth watching.
Bentley Just Showed Up to Monterey With an Off-Road Bentayga
Bentley's new Bentayga X concept debuted at its own Stazione Remota event in Carmel Valley — raised ride height, 21.6-inch wading depth, a roof rack with an electric go-kart, and 650 hp sent to all four corners. Here's what a factory-backed off-road Bentayga signals for GCC buyers.
Lamborghini Built 99 Revuelto Tributes to the Miura's 60th Birthday
Lamborghini unveiled the Revuelto Miura 60° Homage at Monterey Car Week — 99 examples built by Ad Personam with heritage Miura paint, recreated cannelloni seats, and the option to match your own vintage Miura's colour. Here's why this bespoke tribute matters more than a special-edition livery.
Lamborghini's Revuelto SV Just Beat Its Own SVJ Record — Before It's Even Been Revealed
Factory driver Marco Mapelli lapped the Hockenheimring 5.7 seconds faster in a camouflaged Revuelto SV than the Aventador SVJ managed on the same circuit, days ahead of the car's official August 14 reveal at The Quail. Here's what's confirmed, and what's still rumour.
Ferrari Built 10 One-Off Purosangues — and Every One Is Staying in America
Ferrari's Atelier program created ten bespoke Purosangues, split into Landscapes and Roads collections inspired by American geography, all bound for US clients. Here's what the collection says about how far Ferrari's personalisation program now goes.
Lamborghini Is Bringing Together the Largest Miura Gathering in History
Lamborghini will assemble more than 40 Miuras at Pebble Beach on August 16 to mark the car's 60th anniversary, the largest gathering of the model ever staged. Here's why the car that started the supercar template still commands this kind of attention.
Aston Martin Marks 25 Years of the Vanquish With a 50-Car Send-Off
Aston Martin unveiled the Vanquish 25, a Q-built anniversary edition limited to 50 examples worldwide, keeping the 835PS twin-turbo V12 and debuting at Monterey Car Week. Here's why a bespoke, low-volume V12 flagship like this matters to GCC collectors.
Audi's Biggest, Most Powerful SUV Ever Is Here: Meet the Q9 and SQ9
Audi unveiled the Q9, its largest and most expensive SUV yet, plus a 591-hp SQ9 performance variant with a twin-turbo V8. Both aim squarely at the BMW X7 and Mercedes GLS. Here's why this flagship SUV launch matters for Dubai's biggest-selling segment.
47 Seized Supercars Just Went Up for Auction — Here's Why Provenance Is Everything
Singapore is auctioning 47 luxury cars, including 11 Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Ferraris, seized in its largest-ever money laundering case. Some barely driven, others now damp and dust-covered after three years in storage. Here's why the story matters for any serious buyer.
Mansory Built Its Wildest Lamborghini Yet — and It's Landing in Dubai
Mansory's new Carbonado X, a one-off 1,120-hp carbon-bodied Lamborghini Revuelto, is heading straight to the tuner's own Dubai showroom. Here's what a build like this says about Dubai's position in the global bespoke-tuning world.
Rolls-Royce's Black Badge Spectre Series II Is the Most Powerful Rolls-Royce Ever Built
Rolls-Royce debuted the Black Badge Spectre Series II at Goodwood: 671 bhp in Infinity Mode, 1,100 Nm of torque, 18% more range and faster charging, making it the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever made. Here's what the update means for Dubai's electric-performance buyers.
Mercedes-AMG Just Put a Ferrari-Style Engine in an SUV
The 2027 AMG GLE 63 S and GLS 63 debut a flat-plane-crank V8 — a high-revving engine architecture normally reserved for sports cars, not three-row SUVs. With 603 hp and now open for order, here's why the engineering matters as much as the number.
Lamborghini's Newest Revuelto Is a Tribute to Samurai Code — and Only 25 Exist
Lamborghini unveiled the Revuelto Impavido, a 25-unit special edition built by Ad Personam to mark Lamborghini Japan's 25th anniversary, with livery inspired by samurai armor and the Bushido code. Here's what the bespoke program behind it means for GCC collectors.
Bentley's First-Ever Electric Car Has a Name: Meet the Torcal
Bentley has confirmed its first fully electric model, a midsize SUV named the Torcal, with a full reveal set for September 23. It becomes the marque's fourth model line alongside the Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga. Here's what it means for GCC buyers weighing an electric Bentley.
Audi's New Supercar Is Here: Inside the 987-HP Nuvolari
Audi brought the Nuvolari to the Goodwood hillclimb: a 987-hp, 217-mph supercar limited to 499 units and priced from €600,000, and the brand's first new halo car since the R8 was discontinued. Here's what it signals for Audi in Dubai as the marque returns to Formula 1.
Rolls-Royce Marks America's 250th Birthday With Three One-Off Bespoke Commissions
Rolls-Royce unveiled three bespoke commissions in Washington, D.C. this week — a Bohemian Red Cullinan, an English White Phantom, and an Iguazu Blue Ghost — to mark America's 250th anniversary. Here's what the trio says about the Bespoke program, and why it resonates with GCC collectors.
Porsche's Taycan Turbo GT Just Set the Fastest EV Lap Ever Recorded at the Nurburgring
A Manthey Kit-equipped Taycan Turbo GT lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 6:55.533 — the fastest production EV lap ever recorded, beating China's Xiaomi SU7 Ultra by over nine seconds. Here's why the record matters beyond the stopwatch for GCC buyers.
The Road Car Bruce McLaren Never Got to Finish: Inside MSO's M6GT Restoration
McLaren Special Operations has completed a ground-up restoration of Bruce McLaren's own M6GT prototype from the early 1970s, debuted at Goodwood 2026. It's the origin story behind every road-going McLaren since — and a real statement about how the marque treats provenance.
Bentley's New Continental GT Speed Lands in the UAE — With a Track Day at Dubai Autodrome
Bentley Emirates has brought the fourth-generation Continental GT Speed to the UAE, deliveries underway and launched with a customer track day at Dubai Autodrome. 771hp hybrid power, a redesigned single-headlamp face, and what it means for GT Speed values here.
Aston Martin's Vanquish Named Robb Report's 2026 Car of the Year
Aston Martin's flagship Vanquish — an 800hp+ twin-turbo V12 doing 0-62mph in 3.3 seconds — has been named Robb Report's 2026 Car of the Year. Here's what the win says about the brand's turnaround, and why it matters for Vanquish values in Dubai.
Mansory Goes Subtle: Inside the New "Softkit" for Porsche's 992.2 911 Turbo S
Mansory has launched a restrained "softkit" for the new 992.2 Porsche 911 Turbo S — carbon aero, new forged wheels, no widebody, no announced power increase. For a tuner known for maximalism, the restraint itself is the interesting part.
Ferrari's 12Cilindri Manuale Fakes a Manual Gearbox — and It Might Be Genius
Ferrari's new 12Cilindri Manuale has a gated H-pattern shifter and a clutch pedal, neither connected to the transmission — underneath, it's still an 8-speed DCT. Limited to 1,499 units at a $217,000 premium. Here's why simulating a manual might be the smarter move.
Rolls-Royce's $9.5M Project Nightingale Is Already Sold Out — And That's the Whole Point
Rolls-Royce's new all-electric Coachbuild, Project Nightingale, is capped at 100 units and priced from roughly $9.5 million — and it sold out entirely to existing clients before a public offering ever existed. Here's what that says about access at the top of this market.
Brabus Bodo: The Aston Martin Vanquish Reborn as Brabus's First Standalone Supercar
Brabus unveiled the Bodo, a 1,000PS tribute to late founder Bodo Buschmann built on an Aston Martin Vanquish chassis so heavily reworked only the roof survives. Capped at 77 units ahead of Brabus's 50th anniversary. Here's why the Aston Martin base is the real story.
1,001 Horsepower on Patrol: Dubai Police's New Mansory Lamborghini Revuelto
Dubai Police just added a Mansory-tuned Lamborghini Revuelto to its supercar fleet — the force's fourth Mansory build, alongside a Ferrari Purosangue Pugnator, a widebody Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a Mercedes-AMG G63. Here's what this recurring spectacle actually says about Dubai's appetite for modified exotics.
The Phantom Arabesque: Rolls-Royce's Dubai-Commissioned Tribute to Mashrabiya Craft
Rolls-Royce's Private Office Dubai has delivered the Phantom Arabesque, a one-of-one Phantom Extended carrying the marque's first laser-engraved bonnet — a mashrabiya-inspired pattern five years in development. Here's what the commission signals about Middle Eastern bespoke coachbuilding.
Goodwood 2026: Ferrari's Amalfi Finally Runs the Hill, Bentley Debuts Its First Gradient Paint
The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026 gave Ferrari's new Amalfi its first dynamic hillclimb run and introduced Bentley Mulliner's first-ever gradient paint finish on the Supersports. Here's what both debuts signal for GCC buyers deciding what a well-specified example should look like.
Mercedes-AMG Reverses Course: V8 Power Is Coming Back Before Year End
AMG CEO Michael Scheibe has confirmed new V8-powered Mercedes-AMG models will arrive before the end of 2026, starting with SUVs — a reversal of the four-cylinder-hybrid strategy that drew criticism across the range. Here's what it means for AMG values in Dubai.
The McLaren W1's First Road Tests Are In: What 1,258 Hybrid Horsepower Actually Drives Like
Independent road tests of the $2.1M McLaren W1 are landing this week, moving the hybrid hypercar from spec sheet to real-world verdict. Here's what reviewers found, and why it puts the W1 into direct company with the Ferrari F80, Aston Martin Valhalla and Mercedes-AMG One.
Lamborghini's Record 2025: A Fully Hybrid Range, and Why 94% of Buyers Personalize Their Car
Lamborghini closed 2025 with record deliveries and revenue, completed its hybrid transition with the Temerario, and revealed that 94% of cars delivered were personalized through Ad Personam. Here's why that last number matters more than the sales figures for buyers in Dubai.