Audi Creates One-Off Electric Supercar For Will Smith

Could Audi’s new animated sports car preview the next real-world R8?

Gearheads will remember the 2004 science fiction flick I, Robot for the futuristic Audi RSQ concept created specifically for the film driven by Will Smith. It was a memorable piece of automotive product placement that previewed the original Audi R8 years before it went on sale.

Now, history could about to repeat itself because a unique Audi concept car will be driven by Will Smith’s character Lance Sterling in the upcoming animated film Spies in Disguise.

Dubbed the RSQ E-Tron, the supercar concept is presumably an evolution of the RSQ from I, Robot, but it could preview the real-world next-generation Audi R8. The design appears to be heavily inspired by the driver-focused Audi PB18 e-tron concept mixed with cues from the current R8. At any rate, the aggressive design looks far more appealing than the last RSQ, which featured spheres instead of conventional wheels in I, Robot. We wouldn’t complain if the next Audi R8 looks as good as this.

Naturally, the RSQ E-Tron is fully electric and has autonomous driving capabilities that will eventually be offered in future Audi e-tron cars. Since the concept car isn’t real, Audi has equipped the RSQ E-Tron with a plethora of crazy gadgets including cameras replacing traditional rearview mirrors, a holographic speedometer, and several dashboard-mounted displays.

While the RSQ E-Tron has self-driving technology, the driver can still regain control since the sports car includes a gearshift lever and steering wheel. The steering wheel folds away when the car is in autonomous mode.

You’ll have to wait until next September to see the Audi RSQ E-Tron on the big screen when Spies in Disguise releases in cinemas, but you can see the car in action right now in the embedded trailer below.

Aston Martin Rapide Shooting Brake Is A $4 Million One-Off

It’s the last car ever built by Bertone before the company went bankrupt in 2014.

Back in 2009, legendary Italian styling house Bertone built a one-off Aston Martin concept known as the “Jet 2 shooting brake” based on the DB9 platform. This attracted the attention of entrepreneur and Aston Martin fanatic Barry Weir, who contacted the design house requesting to buy it only to be told it was a one-off built for Lilli Bertone and wasn’t for sale.

A few years later, Bertone contacted Weir in 2012 offering to build another Jet 2 shooting brake, only this time the car would be based on the Rapide sedan. The final Aston Martin Jet 2+2 concept was unveiled a year later at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.

Under the hood is the same 5.9-liter V12 that powers the regular Rapide, but the one-off shooting brake arguably looks even more elegant than the standard car while offering more luggage space and a large glass roof. Weir has owned the Aston Martin Jet 2+2 since he bought it in 2012 but is now selling it along with the original mould. According to Top Gear, he spotted the mould and tooling at an auction after Bertone went out of business and snapped them up before putting them into storage.

“When the car was built, Bertone were keen to build 10 cars and then Aston Martin wanted to put a version into full production,” Weir told Top Gear. “Unfortunately, Bertone went bust and it never happened. It meant, however, that mine became a unique example of an Aston Martin, an entirely new production car which consisted of just one vehicle.”

This one-off shooting brake is very significant, then, since it’s the last ever car ever built by Bertone before the company went bankrupt in 2014.

“Part of me would love to see it reproduced but another part likes the idea that it remains a unique one-off as part of automobile and Aston Martin history,” he said. While a regular Aston Martin Rapide S will set you back just over $200,000, its one-off shooting brake sibling is reportedly being sold for around $4 million according to Top Gear.

That One-Off Street-Legal Aston Martin Vulcan Is A V12 Masterpiece

And now you can see it in action.

No one initially asked for this to be done, but the RML Group went ahead and did so anyway – with Aston Martin’s permission of course. A few days ago we learned a lot about the first and, so far only, street-legal Aston Martin Vulcan. Just 24 examples were built of the track-going Vulcan, and now there’s one less. That is, 23 for solely for the track. Because the Vulcan was designed from the get-go as a track-only hypercar, RML Group had a lot of work to do over the course of 18 months.

A few examples include a new hood with smaller headlights, turn signals on the carbon fiber rear wing, and even a pair of reflectors on the rear fascia. The bodywork is clearly not as easy as these modifications make it sound.

Under that hood is the same naturally aspirated 7.0-liter V12 with 820 hp. RML claims there are no performance compromises. The work has clearly paid off, as this new video from Lovecars shows the first Vulcan test drive as well as an up close look thanks to an RML Group factory visit. So kick back and relax. Enjoy our first showing of the world’s only street-legal Aston Martin Vulcan in action.