World's 15 most beautiful cars

Nothing declares a person's socio-economic standing more forcefully than the vehicle he possesses.

Cars are symbols of luxury, status and prestige.

Any new car hitting the road, therefore, makes news, almost unmistakably.

Though the beauty of a vehicle lies in the eyes of its owner, a lot is written about world's most beautiful cars.

The cars have been selected at random purely on the basis of their appearance.

Click NEXT to know more about these beauties. . .

Bugatti Veyron
Price: Starts at Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million)

In 2010, Bugatti revealed the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, which had already been entered into the Guinness Book of Records with an average top speed of 431 km/h (267 mph).

Bugatti Veyron is allowed to drive on normal roads in the world with a top speed of 407 km/hour with an acceleration of 0-100km/hour in 2.7 seconds.

The car is distributed in India by the company's Indian dealer Exclusive Motors.

The car, which uses components made of special materials like titanium, carbon fibre and magnesium is powered by an 8-litre engine with 16 cylinders and is assembled by hand at the company's hand headquarters Molsheim in France.

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Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
Price: Rs 2.65 crore (Rs 26.5 million)

A drop-top version of the 8C Competizione coupe, the Spider, was seen at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California in 2005.

The car shares its name with the Alfa Romeo 8C 2009 from 1934, which dominated the 1000 Miglia race in 1935-1938 and 1947.

The two-seat 8C coupe made its debut as a concept car, at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2003.

The 8C Spider, like its coupe sibling, is planned to be built in a limited number of 500 cars.

The engine powering both coupe and convertible is from Maserati's Quattroporte, although it's been enlarged to 4.7 litres of displacement.

It makes 450 horsepower at 7,000 rpm, and 347 lb-ft of torque at 4,750 rpm, with a 7,500 rpm redline.

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Aston Martin DBS
Price: Rs 5.91 crore (Rs 59.1 million)

The DBS is the first production Aston Martin that makes extensive use of ultra-light carbon-fiber body panels.

The classic 6.0-litre V12 engine features a number of enhancements, including a 'by-pass' engine air intake port that opens above 5500rpm to allow more air into the engine, and re-profiled air inlet ports that further improve airflow into the combustion chamber.

The DBS employs a new and sophisticated adaptive damping system, which uses two separate valves to set the dampers to five different positions, allowing instant adjustment of the car's ride.

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Mercedes SLS AMG
Price: 2.24 crore (Rs 22.4 million)

It stands out for its artistic design, gullwing doors, massive radiator grille with the star shape company emblem, accented wheel arches, the pronounced shoulder line, longer nose and tiny rear side.

The SLS AMG is designed to be a modern 300SL Gullwing revival by Gorden Wagener.

The car has a long bonnet, the passenger compartment is close to the rear axle and the rear of the car is short.

The SLS AMG has adapted the feature of wing doors that will swing open upwards on gas struts.

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Audi R8 Sp7der
Price: Rs 1.47 crore (Rs 14.7 million)

Before the launch of the BMW 6 series convertible in India, Audi India have launched their Audi R8 Spyder, open top version of their R8 supercar.

This was just a day before the 6 series convertible was launched in India.

Its hard top variant is already available in India and its sales have far exceeded what the company may have thought of.

The Audi R8 in India now gets all the variants available under the R8 moniker.

The Audi R8 Spyder variant looks exactly the same as its hard top version and features a soft top roof which weighs only 30 kg.

As for the looks of the car, they are now more toned down from the earlier sharp nose look.

The shark-like kidney grilles are retained but now there is a sophistication to it, which was lacking in the earlier model.

The 4.4-litre V8 engine under the hood gets twin turbos and direction injection technology.

The new car is wider and has a stretched wheelbase.

The interiors, especially the rear seats are now more roomier than before, however, the boot space has remain untouched at 450 litres.

The interiors virtually remain unchanged with the asymmetrical dash being angled towards the driver.

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9

Koenigsegg Agera
Price: Rs 12.5 crore (Rs 125 million)

Its Swedish design themes just like the new breed of Volvos is fresh.

The sharp head lamp design stands out with its all LED configuration.

The air flaps next to the bonnet look a bit cheesy though whereas the egg shaped outside rear view mirrors look good.

The interiors are not that jazzy or flashy as one would expect it to be.

The hand brake lever is covered with leather.

The central console is finished in brushed aluminium. This is a mid engined hyper car and hence has storage space under the front hood.

The engine in the Koenigsegg Agera in India is a 5 litre twin turbo V8 petrol motor with 940 Bhp on tap and 1100 Nm of torque available.

This car isn't a 4 wheel drive car and is a rear wheel driven one. A 7 speed automatic transmission with paddle shifts is on offer.

Official claims put the Agera just .2 seconds behind that of the Lamborghini Aventador and this means a lap time of 3 seconds for the 0-100 kmph dash.

Top speed is a claimed 400 kmph.

Volkswagen Beetle
Price: Rs 26.8 lakhs (Rs 2.68 million)

Volkswagen Beetle offers the thrill of sports utility vehicle though its size is similar to Tata Nano.

Volkswagen Beetle is available only with petrol engine option with six speed manual transmission gearbox.

Volkswagen India has launched only one variant of Volkswagen Beetle which is powered by the 2.0L, 1984cc, petrol engine with six speed automatic transmission gearbox.

This 2.0L power-plant produces 115bhp of maximum power with 172Nm of maximum torque.

Its powerful engine makes it able to cross the mark of 100kmph in just 11.2 seconds and touch the top speed mark of 180kmph.

The active safety features that Volkswagen Beetle includes are ABS with EBD, dual front and side impact airbags, sear belt alarm, and tyre pressure monitoring system.

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Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
Price: Rs 3.92 crore (Rs 39.2 million)

It features a 6.0-liter V12 engine derived directly from the Enzo supercar, producing 620 hp at 7,600 rpm and 446 pound-feet of torque at 5,600 rpm.

The Ferrari 599 GTB replaces the 575M Maranello, which followed the 550 Maranello introduced in 1996.

The 599 shares a basic design language and much of its chassis with the 612 Scaglietti.

Bodywork was penned by Italian design house Pininfarina.

Dynamically adjustable MagneRide suspension enables the 599 to offer a smooth ride for cruising, while still taking corners like a track-oriented supercar.

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Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce
Price: Rs 3.6 crore (Rs 36 million)

This is Lamborghini's fastest sports car.

The new car comes with a 6.5 litre V12 petrol engine and can speed from zero to 100 kilometre per hour in 3.2 seconds.

It has a maximum speed of 342 kilometre per hour and the company will introduce only 350 units of the high-end model in the country.

It is built with lightweight materials and hi-tech carbon fibre -- its transmission tunnel and floor are made of carbon fiber, the roof and exterior door panels are carved from sheet steel and carbon composite material is used to make the rest of the outer skin.

It is fitted with upward opening doors and the interior has sports bucket seats.

The car's V12 engine is of 670 horsepower and consists of 12 cylinders.

Bentley Continental GT
Price: Rs 1.65 crore (Rs 16.5 million)

The Bentley Continental GT is a two-door 'two plus two' grand touring coupe released in 2003, replacing the previous Rolls-Royce-based Continental R and T.

It is equipped with a 5,998 cubic centimetres (366.0 cu in) (6.0 litre) twin-turbocharged W12 engine, which produces a DIN-rated motive power output of 560 metric horsepower at 6,100 rpm, and torque of 650 newton metres (479 ft lbf) at 1,600-6,100 rpm.

Torsen-based permanent four-wheel drive is standard.

It will accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 62.1 mph) in 4.8 seconds, and go on to reach a top speed of 318 kilometres per hour (197.6 mph).

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Porsche Panamera S Hybrid
Price: Rs 75.4 lakhs (Rs 7.54 million)

The car uses Cayenne's hybrid system and is driven by an electric motor capable of generating 47bhp along with a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine generating 333bhp.

The Panamera S Hybrid comes with an eight-speed tiptronic gearbox and does the 0-62mph sprint in six seconds and touches a top speed of 168mph.

However, the hybrid has a negligible all electric range of 1.25 miles! The only good thing is that it gives a mileage of 30.4mpg and emits 159g/km of CO2 emissions.

The car's engine and motor can be engaged together or separately.
Of the many features the Panamera comes with its 'sailing' function is perhaps the most interesting.

With this system the car saves fuel at speeds above 103mph when the engine does not use any power and the car just cruises.

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Text, courtesy: CarDekho.com

Jaguar XK
Price: R V8 Coupe price starts at Rs 90.75 lakhs (Rs 9.07 million)
R V8 Convertible starts Rs 94.76 lakhs (Rs 9.47 million)

The Jaguar XK series (XK, XK8 and XKR) was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show on March 5 1996.

The XK8 was the first 8-cylinder vehicle produced by Jaguar.

The second generation XK was launched in 2006.

The new XK introduced an aluminium monocoque bodyshell.

It is available both as a two-door coupe and two-door cabriolet/convertible.

Jaguar XKR convertible is equipped by an all new 5.0 Litre AJ-V8 GEN III R supercharged petrol engine.

It features twin air intakes and a new six generation Eaton supercharger that helps it generate 503 bhp of power output and 625Nm of torque.

A fully adaptive gearbox offers the smoothest shifts and optimum performance at all times.

The engine can pounce from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. It can achieve a top speed of 250 km/h.

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Hyundai Elantra
Price: Rs 8,76,669

The Hyundai Elantra was launched in October 1990 for the 1991 model year, and now in its fifth generation.

The Elantra was formerly marketed as the Lantra in Australia and some European markets.

The Elantra is powered by a Mitsubishi-designed 1.6 L (1596 cc) straight-4. This DOHC 16-valve 1.6 L unit produced 113 hp (84 kW) at 6000 rpm and could push the Elantra to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 9.5 seconds.

The quarter-mile (0.4 km) run took 17.1 seconds and produced 80 mph (129 km/h).

Top speed was 116 mph (187 km/h).

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Maserati GranCabrio
Price: Rs 1.57 crore (Rs 15.7 million)

The Maserati GranCabrio is a cabriolet with open top and four seats.

Designed by Pininfarina, the car stands out for its canvas hood.

It is powered by a 4.7 litre V8 that delivers 440 bhp, has a six-speed ZF automatic transmission and hydraulic torque converter.

Its safety level is pretty high as it has new generation airbags and extendable roll bar set behind the rear seats.

When closed, the rear pillar is mimicked in the hood's forward-slanting design.

Once open, the Maserati GranCabrio transforms into a cabriolet.

The side-on view is accentuated by the reduced ground clearance and long bonnet.

A stylish 'V' points towards the grille, in the middle of which is a large chrome Trident.

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Volkswagen CC
Price: Rs 1.57 crore (Rs 15.7 million)

The Volkswagen Passat CC is a 4-door coupe version of the Volkswagen Passat.

It debuted in January 2008 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit

The Volkswagen CC comes in four trim levels: Sport, Luxury, VR6 Sport, and VR6.

The CC features a 2.0-litre four cylinder, 200 horsepower engine which puts out 207 lb-ft of torque.

This is far from the most powerful car in its class, but with the manual transmission it can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds.