2021 Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulogne

In recent years, defunct automotive brands such as DeTomaso and Healey have seen a revival as a limited production run of bespoke, high end cars for the ultra-rich.

Following that trend is Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish automotive brand that built luxury cars from 1904-1938. A group of investors sought to revive the brand in 2019 with a new vehicle called the Carmen, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. The name comes from the granddaughter of one of the founders of the original company.

The Carmen is an all-electric hypercar that is positioned alongside competitors such as the Lotus Evija and the Rimac Nevera.

Powered by two electric motor producing a combined 1,005 horsepower (750 KW), the Carmen propels from 0-62 mph in under 3.0 seconds. The car has an 80 kilowatt-hour, liquid-cooled battery pack arranged in a T-shape, which also acts as a tuned mass damper to provide stability and reduce vibration. This gives the car a range of 400 km or 248 miles.

The Carmen is limited to 19 units and carries a base price of $1.7 million USD.

In 2021, Hispano-Suiza announced an even more extreme version called the Carmen Boulogne. The Boulogne is limited to just 5 units and carries a base price of $1.9 million USD.

The Boulogne includes two additional electric motors, bumping the power output to 1,114 horsepower (820 KW) and a top speed of 180 mph.

I saw Chassis No. 1 of the Boulogne on display at the Hispano Suiza booth during The Quail Automotive Gathering in Monterey on 19 August 2022.

The car is eye-catching with its purple-tinted carbon fiber bodywork glistening under the California sun. The coupe body tapers back to a boattail shape in the rear, with pronounced front and rear fenders extending outward from the monocoque body.

The Carmen Boulogne seamlessly blends old-world craftsmanship and luxury with the latest in modern technology.

The white leather interior boasts diamond-quilted patterns on the seats and center console with purple accented stitching to match the car’s exterior. Driver information is delivered via two large LCD screens, one behind the wheel and the other in the center console.

For a lucky few owners, the Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulogne would be the centerpiece of any automotive collection.

Exotics on Broadway 2019 Highlights

One of the highlights of Monterey Car Week 2019 was attending Exotics on Broadway (formerly Exotics on Cannery Row). This event is notable as the most-attended event of Car Week, being that it is both free and open to the public. More than 30,000 people showed up for this year’s event, according to the organizers.

For car enthusiasts, you might delight in seeing an exotic car in your town as you go about your daily life. A Ferrari 458 Italia, a Lamborghini Huracan, an Audi R8, or an AMG Mercedes would be a notable sighting on any other day of the year. But at Exotics on Broadway, these cars are almost as common as Honda Accords.

It’s hard to appreciate these mid-range sports and exotic cars in the presence of so many unicorns – the elite, multi million-dollar, super limited production hypercars cars you’ve read about online, but have never seen in person. Exotics on Broadway brings together the best of the best – Pagani, Koenigsegg, Bugatti, McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Saleen, Hennessey, and many other top brands. To see so many dream cars all gathered in one place is pretty overwhelming.

I apologize for not being able to include photos of every Porsche GT3RS, Nissan GTR, or Lamborghini Aventador. A quick Google search reveals that as of 2018, Lamborghini has produced more than 8,000 Aventadors since the car’s release in 2011, and more than 11,000 Huracan vehicles. The featured cars at Exotics on Broadway are so rare, that they may number in the low hundreds of examples built. Only 349 examples of the Ferrari F50 were ever made, and there were three of them at this event. Cars from Pagani and Koenigsegg are even rarer, with specific models numbering in the dozens worldwide.

And there wasn’t just one of them. I counted a half-dozen Pagani models, mostly Huayras and one yellow Zonda R. There were several Koenigsegg Ageras, a CCX, and the brand new Jesko on display. Everywhere you looked, there was another amazing car to behold. There was even a beautiful blue Lamborghini Centenario coupe, 1 of just 20 in the world. It it no exaggeration to say that this event was like going to supercar heaven.

I hope you enjoy these photos from the 2019 Exotics on Broadway event in Seaside, California.

Koenigsegg Jesko


Unveiled in early 2019 at the Geneva Motor Show, the Jesko is the latest and greatest creation from Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg. Designed as the replacement for the Agera, the new Jesko features a more spacious interior, more powerful engine, and improved aerodynamics. The car is currently on a worldwide press tour and also appeared at The Quail Motorsports Gathering during Car Week. The approximate price is $2.8 million.

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Pagani Huayra: Insanity on Wheels

When it comes to Italian supercars, there is an unwritten social order of things. Ferrari is at the top, with decades of racing experience and some of the world’s best road-legal supercars money can buy. Lamborghini is a close second, having designed and built some of the wildest and most iconic vehicles in the world.

Both companies have been around for over 50 years. Both make very fast and very expensive cars. Both have proven that they’ve got what it takes when it comes to radical engineering and even more radical design. They’ve both got pedigree.

Then in 1992, this Lamborghini engineer by the name of Horacio Pagani decides to leave the company to do his own car. Continue reading

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse

We all know about the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 – the fastest production car on Earth. Everything about the car is a superlative, from its 1000-horsepower quad-turbocharged W16 engine to its 252 mph top speed. Even the price tag is astronomical: $1.6 million for the two-seater.

The original Veyron 16.4 coupe went on sale in 2008 with a limited production of just 300 vehicles. Bugatti then made the the world’s fastest convertible when they unveiled the Veyron Grand Sport in 2010. The latest and greatest factory offering is the Grand Sport Vitesse.

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SEMA 2012: 2013 Hennessey Venom GT Spyder

How quickly can your car accelerate from 0 to 200 miles per hour? If you drive a McLaren F1, it takes 28.0 seconds. If you drive a Bugatti Veyron, it takes 24.2 seconds. The Koenigsegg Agera R is faster still at 17.6 seconds. In the 2013 Hennessey GT Venom Spyder, it takes just 15.3 seconds to hit 200 mph. But when your car costs $1.1 million dollars, you should expect no less.

As you can see, Hennessey Performance Engineering is all about big numbers.

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