A Bang & Olufseh sound system fills the room with an instrumental composed specifically for the occasion. The cluster of 500 organic LED lights hanging from the ceiling shimmers in concert with the music, illuminating the space, and from the darkness appears a new One-77,Aston Martin's extremely low-volume, low-slung modern muscle car. These theatrics come standard for any owner who takes delivery of the nearly $1.8 million One-77 rn theVIP customer lounge at the Aston Martin factory in the English village of Gaydon. The presentation ceremony underscores what each of the 60 buyers (as of mid-December) already knows: that the One-77 promises to be a special car,and meeting it for the first time should be a memorable event.

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Don't get me wrong; I love Astons. They're beautiful pieces of coach-building, featuring stunning exterior styling, flawless interior refinement, and hypnotic engine notes. In other words, an absolute dream ride for a nice Sunday cruise, but that's it. Since I've been at Motor Trend, every Aston Martin I've driven has been great at being an exotic cruiser but always fell short when compared to exotic drivers. But that's about to change with the introduction of the all-new Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

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Juxtaposed to the sports-car offerings of Lamborghini, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz, the Lotus Evora (www.lotuscars.com) may appear to be a small fish in a tank of great whites.

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This three-car roundup has us feeling like Goldilocks, and only one of us is blond. We've got the usual complaints: One's too cramped, one's too slow, one's too hot, one's too lumpy, and so on. What we have here are three quite different sports cars with the same things in mind: maximal involvement, minimal suffering.

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No manufacturer has a model range like Lotus. Ferrari and Lamborghini supply hautecouture with cars that are faster but less agile. Pagani and Bugatti, in their pursuit of shock and awe, make cars that are both more powerful and more intimidating. Porsche has an SUV on its books....

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Whatever its credentials as a sports car—and they seem to be impressive—the Spyker C8 Aileron is an attention-getting device of pretty intense wattage. It even draws stares from the pilots of Ferraris, Lambos, and other exotics. We know this from an early-morning blast down...

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Does the best mid-engined coupe still come from Germany? To find out we pitched Porsche's Cayman S against two British built rivals - the new Lotus Evora and the Farbio GTS350.

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Owning a Porsche is a dream for many people, and with good reason. As far as sports cars go, they are among the most reliable, they are universally fun to drive, and they are among the most recognizable cars on the road without being overtly flashy or ostentatious. They are also expensive when new, so driving a pre-owned Porsche can be a great way to live the dream without eBaying your organs or taking a large initial loss in depreciation. Besides, as the saying goes, "There are no used Porsches, only new drivers."

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First off, your humble servant is not James Bond. That's no Jaeger-Le Coultre Reverso (the watch from which the V8 Vantage Roadster draws its design inspiration) on the left wrist. There's no defibrillator in the glovebox. The drive isn't along the scorched-earth landscape of Iceland or to Casino Royale (though Provence's twisty roads to Mount Ventoux are no slouch).

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Granted, we often get a bit technical here at Car and Driver, a nuance due in no small part to having an editor-in-chief who has an engineering degree from MIT and expects everyone to keep up with him during luncheon conversations, or at least nod enthusiastically. But here's the simplest, least painful lesson in automotive engineering you'll ever find.

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We should get something out of the way immediately: If you're looking for a fun, light, responsive sports car, the Lotus Exige coupe is pretty much in a class by itself. (Same for its open-topped sister car, the Lotus Elise, even if it's not quite as serious a track weapon and has less horsepower.) By comparison, every other sports car seems to be carrying some kind of baggage, either literally - as in trunk volume or vehicle weight - or metaphorically, with excessive luxury, size or attitude.

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Perfection for an extra $8230. That's the premium to pay for the new 2008 Elise Supercharged - it's worth every penny. Lotus USA arranged a drive of the new car along a route that is dear to my heart. While I lived in Southern California I routinely made the same Sunday morning pilgrimage in whatever sporting motorcycle or car I had available. And it was on this strip of tangled asphalt ribbon that I learned what it really means to go fast.

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