We'll admit to a perverse lust for the Morgan Aero 8 so any time we get to run pics of that car for any reason is a plus, however, the other cars on created in this set aren't too shabby either. They're the handiwork of Mark Brown and Marc Cameron at Se7en Magazine, and we think they did a great job creating some of the most iconic cars on the road these days. Surprising they didn't make a Se7en.

Light Graffiti Cars

When the worlds of art and cars come together, they can generate some truly beautiful output - evident in the BMW Art Cars created by the likes of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Olafur Eliasson. Now the work of light graffiti photographer Mark Brown is set to reinforce this ideology, by demonstrating just how amazing iconic cars can look when recreated using in light graffiti.

The brainchild of project manager Marc Cameron (owner of Se7enmagazine.com) and brought to reality by Brown, Light Graffiti Cars is a series of images of iconic cars created using light graffiti.

The popularity of light graffiti has been on the rise over the past couple of years, with the groundbreaking work of the brilliant Michael Bosanko, Patrick Rochon, and Lichtfaktor bringing to light this truly wonderful and magical art form. Even the X Factor is now trying to get in on the act with the light dancing ads shown just before and after the commercial breaks.

"Mark and I both studied photography at the same university, and we were introduced by our former lecturer," says Marc Cameron.

"I instantly found Mark's images of light graffiti - shot against rural backgrounds - truly breathtaking, and it left me thinking about the range of possibilities for this emerging art form. As a massive fan of cars, I came up with the idea of capturing iconic motors in light graffiti, and Mark's images are the manifestation of this concept."

"Using an original technique of light painting I aimed to create simplified graphic versions of each of these classic shapes. The timeless, current and forward thinking design of each model has made creating these representations a massively inspiring experience," says Mark Brown.

"Choosing cars with eye-catching style and innovative design, I was able to construct images that capture the clean lines in each concept. The Iconic design of such models as the classic VW camper Van and Beetle to the equally iconic, but more modern styling of the Audi R8, the Morgan Aero and many more are works of art in their own right so lend themselves very well to this type of imagery. Every design that I have chosen, in my eyes, lives to be viewed."

We're hoping to raise interest in the possibility of featuring these images in either a leading photography show or a calendar.

For further information about Mark Brown's work visit: www.markbrownphotography.co.uk/

[Se7en Magazine]

(Thanks for the tip Dave) (TwitPic)

One more to add to our galleries of Automotive FAIL!(Hat tip to Alexhohio!)

What really happened was—well, nobody knows. This photo was posted on A Time To Get, along with a number of similar ones, and the only explanation is this:

A couple highlight pics from the trip just because. What better way to get down on a Monday than with some beat-up old hood badges of multi-million dollar rides and a little reckless driving on the Autostrada?

What’s beyond certain is that Nick Maggio had a killer time.

Photo Credit: A Time To Get

If you've clicked play on this driving video from a Ferrari F-430-mounted Nano you've likely already recoiled in horror at the terrible wind noise. The Nano, or any small video camera with an on-board mic for that matter, will pick up horrible, horrible amounts of wind noise when mounted on the front of your car.

The solution? Stick the camera on the rear license plate facing rearwards. That plate is almost always located in an area of negative air pressure so you'll eliminate the wind noise. As an added bonus, the camera will be perfectly located to pick up noise from the exhaust, squealing rear tires and the shocked faces of drivers you've just passed.

Thanks for the tip, Timothy.

The true answer may never be known, but watching a wrecker pull the water-logged remains of a once beautiful and fish free Ferrari F430 from the drink makes us pucker just a little bit. Aside from the tensed reaction, it makes us wonder why in the world you'd let your pride and joy sit at the bottom of the lake for a week. Why weren't the cops involved? What about his insurance?

These are all very obvious questions that just don't seem to be answered in this clip, so we invite you to formulate your own creative epic tale in the comments below. And please, have fun with it. (H/T To Eggwich!) [TheDirty]

Observe fast cars from the vantage point of the average automobile and anything with more than four cylinders and 200 HP will merge with their kin like railway sleepers on the horizon.

Because can there possibly be a difference between, say, a BMW 335i with six cylinders and three hundred horsepower and a Ferrari F430, where the respective numbers are eight and 490? They will both rip your head clean off upon a blip of the throttle and will both exceed legal speed in a matter of seconds.

Yet up close, the differences grow. My friend Gergely Antal has recently spent some time in a gray F430 Spider and he has emerged a different man:

Look, I don’t edit a fancy motoring magazine, I don’t drive race cars for a living, I am not a petrolhead. Still, I’m familiar with what a 300 HP car feels like [the BMW 335i you can see here – Ed.] and have even picked up a set of wheels for Xbox driving games. I don’t throw common sense out the window when I evaluate things, even if this is not always apparent—but this car is so much more than I’d believed. I was thinking maybe it’s twice as good as the 335i. But no: it’s like ten times as good.

This is what stepping on the slippery slope of supercars is like. When you realize that beyond the numbers are innumerable details. That an engine which is perhaps twice as powerful is also twice as responsive in raising and dropping revs. That its power flows through a gearbox twice as precise, through a suspension that follows the road surface like a silken glove, through tires—and I’ll have to quote Neal Stephenson here—“with contact patches the size of a fat lady’s thighs.” Add them all and quantitative differences emerge.

And don’t think that it’s regular cars on one side and supercars on the other. The F430 may be the inflection point on the way there, but the slide from an F430 to a Ferrari 599 GTB is just as steep, according to Nino Karotta, who has driven both. At the bottom of the slope stands Harry Metcalfe, managing director of Evo magazine, who has once paid Horatio Pagani a quarter million dollars to upgrade his Pagani Zonda C12 to F spec—and he called it money well spent.

So please, for the sake of your comfortable retirement and your children’s nutrition and higher education, avoid Ferraris like the plague. Look what’s happened to Gergely—a reasonable man, an engineer by training—barely a day after his experience with Maranello’s gateway drug:

I have now made the decision to not get old or die without having once owned a Ferrari. You do need goals to keep you moving.

Junkie talk!

Photo Credit: Andras Horvath

According to China Car Times, the development of the Tong Jian S11 is nearly complete, but details surrounding the hybrid-powered sports car are scarce. The car's designer gleefully lifted the best design cues from both the R8 and most any modern Ferrari, mashing them together to create this Chinese love fusion. Will it ever be produced? We're sure both the boys from Ingolstadt and Maranello are paying very close attention to that.

[ChinaCarTimes]

Press release:

Some Like It Even Hotter: NOVITEC ROSSO Tunes the Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M — 696 hp / 512 kW, 682 Nm and More than 330 km/h

How can you make a Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M, built in a limited edition of just 499 vehicles, even more exciting and more exclusive? Easy, just take it to NOVITEC ROSSO, the world's leading refiner of the sports cars from Maranello.

There the open-top lightweight model is fitted with the NOVITEC ROSSO RACE Bi-Compressor engine with 696 hp / 512 kW. It propels the Ferrari to a new top speed of more than 330 km/h. Numerous uncompromising sporty options such as 20-inch wheels, sport springs, a lift system for the front axle and exterior and interior accessories round out the product lineup.

NOVITEC ROSSO compressor technology has been the proven recipe for added driving fun for many years. For the eight-cylinder four-valve engine of the Scuderia Spider 16M NOVITEC ROSSO has now developed a custom version of its RACE Bi-Compressor engine.

The 4.3-liter V8 is supercharged by two cogged-belt-driven high-performance compressors with a maximum boost pressure of 0.48 bar. Each cylinder bank is fitted with a generously dimensioned water-to-air intercooler.

A specially manufactured heat-insulated intake manifold with larger cross-sections provides the engine with pre-compressed air. High-performance air filters and larger injectors round out the engine conversion on the intake side.

For a perfect symbiosis of maximum power yield, exemplary running smoothness and durability beyond reproach, the NOVITEC ROSSO engine specialists precision-match the new components with a newly programmed electronic engine management system.

Just as important are the larger cooling circuits for water and oil as well as dedicated cooling circuits for both compressors and the intercoolers.

The extensive NOVITEC ROSSO RACE Bi-Compressor conversion, available for 47,000 Euros for this and all other F430 Spider models, offers unique performance. With a power output of 696 hp / 512 kW at 8,400 rpm the NOVITEC ROSSO conversion surpasses the production engine by 186 hp / 136.9 kW. Peak torque grows from standard 470 Nm to 682 Nm at 6,300 rpm.
Driving performance improves just as impressively: The tuned Scuderia Spider 16M sprints from rest to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds, and reaches 200 km/h after just 9.7 seconds. The 300-km/h barrier is shattered after just 23.8 seconds. Top speed for the open-top mid-engine sports car increases from 315 to more than 330 km/h.

For further optimized handling of the lightweight sports car NOVITEC ROSSO offers an update from the standard 19-inch tires to three-piece 20-inch wheels. The NOVITEC ROSSO NF3 double-spoke wheels in size 8.5Jx20 in front and in size 12Jx20 in back widen the track and thus allow even higher cornering speeds. The custom-tailored high-performance tires in size 235/30 ZR 20 in front and in size 325/25 ZR 20 on the rear axle are provided by technology partner PIRELLI.

NOVITEC ROSSO sport springs lower the center of gravity and further improve agile handling. For added daily utility of the Scuderia Spider 16M NOVITEC ROSSO offers a hydraulic lift system for the front axle. At the push of a button the front is raised by 40 millimeters and makes navigating obstacles such as curbs, speed bumps and garage entries easier. The front axle reverts to normal position at a second push of the button or automatically once the car reaches a speed of 80 km/h.

To give the Spider exterior an even more striking appearance NOVITEC ROSSO offers blacks taillights, side markers and reflectors.

The lightweight-construction interior can be refined with exclusive NOVITEC ROSSO options as well. The ergonomically shaped leather/carbon-fiber NOVITEC ROSSO sport steering wheel features a flattened lower rim for easier entering and exiting. The NOVITEC ROSSO carbon-fiber shift paddles are longer than their production counterparts and make manual gearshifts of the F1-SuperFast2 transmission even easier.

Special interior color requests can be fulfilled by NOVITEC ROSSO in any imaginable color combination.

Audi has won every race at La Sarthe since 1999, the sole exception being the 2003 event—which wasn’t really an exception at all, as the winning Bentley Speed 8 was nothing but Audi’s all-conquering R8 with a roof and a can of British Racing Green paint.

After retiring the R8, Audi returned in 2006 with the R10, the first modern diesel-engined endurance racecar, powered by a V12 TDI engine, which duly took victory at its first outing at Le Mans.

In 2007, Peugeot stepped up to the plate with a similar design, the 908 HDi FAP, which came in second on its inaugural race, retained this position for 2008, then roared back for a 1–2 finish this Sunday against Audi’s all-new R15. This marks Peugeot’s third win at their home race, after the Peugeot 905’s back-to-back wins in 1992 and 1993.

A Porsche RS Spyder entered by Team Essex/Poulsen Motorsport took the LMP2 class. The Corvettes marked their last race before retirement with a fifth class win in GT1, while in GT2 it was all Ferrari, with the top spot going to Risi Competizione’s F430.

Presented here are the best photos from the race.

The Corvette Racing C.6R of Jan Magnussen of Denmark, Johnny O'Connell of the United States of America and Antonio Garcia of Spain drives during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 15, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Ferrari F430's head through the Dunlop Chicane during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Jan Magnussen (L) of Denmark and Team Corvette Racing and Nicolas Lapierre of France and Team Matmut drive down the Mulsanne Straight during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Nicolas Minassian of France drives the Team Peugeot Total 908 HDi FAP car down the Mulsanne Straight during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

An Audi R15 heads down to Indianapolis corner during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

The Peugeot Sport Total 908 HDi FAP of Alex Wurz of Austria, David Brabham of Great Britain and Marc Gene of Spain drives during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Dindo Capello of Italy drives the Audi Sport Team Joest R15 during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

The Team RML Lola Mazda of Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Chris Dyson drives during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Johnny Kane of Ireland drives the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Jan Magnussen of Denmark and Corvette Racing drives during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Cars go through Indianapolis corner during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Cars head towards Terte Rouge during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 14, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

A Kolles Audi R10 drives at sunrise during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 14, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

The Aston Martin Racing Lola of Stuart Hall, Harold Primat and Peter Kox comes in for a pitstop during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 14, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

The Aston Martin Racing Lola of Jan Charouz of the Czech Republic, Stefan Mucke of Germany and Tomas Enge of the Czech Republic drives during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 14, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images

Pedro Lamy of Portugal and Team Peugeot suffers rear left hand damage after a collision in the pitlane during the 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on June 13, 2009 in Le Mans, France.

Photo Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

[via Autocar]

Not only will the F450 feature a .2-liter bump in displacement and ten more Italian ponies from the F430 Scuderia, it'll also be the first car to feature Ferrari's new weight savings techniques that were previewed on the 2007 FXX Millechili concept. Although the car appears to be larger in all dimensions expect performance to be on par or slightly better than the current Scuderia model with this added weight savings.

If early reports are true, we'll see the F450 at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September with a showroom date set sometime in 2010. We can't wait to lay our eyes on the real car come Fall, until then, we'll just lust after this artist's rendition. [Autogespot via AutoPlus]

We’re sitting at a vast dining table, my friend Máté and I, idly racing a toy Ferrari in the shadow of salmon sandwiches, and he says, hey, let’s turn that Ferrari into a Mad Max Interceptor Pursuit Special.

The Ferrari is an F430 Challenge, sans Stradale, the racing version of the basic F430, and you can get one at Shell gas stations with your purchase of gasoline (and candy bars), at least here in Europe you can. It’s palm-sized and comes with a pullback motor which is synched with a speaker emitting a rather faithful engine noise. I know because I have a 250 GTO and the sound is vastly different, modern flat-plane V8 versus vintage racing 3.0-liter V12.

We’ll skip the hood-mounted supercharger as there’s nothing to supercharge up front, same with the sidepipes and the ghetto black paintjob, but we can’t skip the tanks. On the original Pursuit Special, the tanks stored scarce gasoline, a substance which is indeed getting scarce but which unfortunately does not come in tiny canisters.

What does come in tiny canisters is nitrous oxide, the mother of all dual-use technology, used in dentistry for anaesthesia, in car tuning for, well, you know what, and in the kitchen to make whipped cream. Nitrous oxide is extremely soluble in fat, as in the fat of whipping cream, enabling the user to create whipped cream twice the volume than with air.

Nitrous oxide in cars is usually labelled NOS after Holley Performance Products’ Nitrous Oxide Systems but my mother is a chemical engineer and she would disapprove of that, so we’ll go with the chemical formula N₂0. With a dab of overhead marker and a strip of Scotch tape, the car is ready to rock and roll.

Ready, I lied, but not quite. The heavy N₂0 canisters are overloading the pullback motor, making the car extremely sluggish. And you can’t have an F430 Challenge Interceptor Pursuit Special associated in any way with that dreadful adjective. What we’ll need is an ultra-precise double-barreled nailgun which fires two pins in high sync to rupture both nitrous canisters at the same time, creating in the process a nitrous-powered jet car.

If you have such a nail-gun handy, Jalopnik Nitrous Initiative would like to hear from you.

Photo Credit: Máté Petrány and the author

We're beginning to wonder. Early Monday morning a stunt driver lost control of his Ferrari F430 while filming a chase scene and injured two. The X5's driver, one Laura Conti, claims she was attempting to avoid a stray taxi cab and ended up hitting a parked car, which sent her onto the curb. Nobody was seriously injured, thankfully. Perhaps a wizard with stronger magic than Cage's is trying to prevent this silly film from seeing the light of day. [NBC, 1010Wins]

The incident was captured on amateur video and shows two cars weaving through NYC traffic before the stunt driver of the Ferrari lost control on the wet streets and jumped the curb, crashing into a Sbarro's. The car struck a pedestrian directly and knocked down an electrical post which fell onto another. The worst part? One of the victims was not associated with the film so that'll be a nice lawsuit. Both were taken to Bellevue Hospital where their injuries are considered not life threatening. Thank goodness, especially as we laughed at the guy flailing his arms and legs underneath the electrical pole. We feel much less like horrible human beings now.
In other news "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is based on the poem which inspired the Disney classic "Fantasia" and puts Nicolas Cage in the role of a sorcerer named Balthazar Blake who's scouring New York City for an apprentice. Yes, it absolutely sounds as stupid to us as it does to you. [New York Post]

It's hard to believe that the Ferrari F430 is already getting a bit long in the tooth, but with this recent spy footage, we see that Ferrari is readying its next mid-engined V8 equipped ride. Early reports are stating that the 4.3-liter from the F430 has been given a boost in displacement to 4.5-liters and sending upwards of 520 thoroughbred horses to the rear wheels via the Ferrari California's deliciously smooth dual-clutch gearbox. The increased displacement and rumored 10,000 rpm redline has brought a higher need for cooling which is evidenced in the video by the much larger air intakes on the rear shoulder of the car.

Appearances can be deceiving, but the F450 looks to be a bit bigger in all dimensions though it's really hard to tell at this early stage. Regardless, the car sounds magnifico and we can't wait to get our first hands on one after its September Frankfurt Motor Show debut. [via WCF]