Back in January, Chrysler announced that its new SRT Viper would not officially be sold in Europe as the automaker prefers to focus its sales efforts for the car solely in the North American market. The key word in that sentence, however, is "officially".Sensing a good business opportunity due to the car’s increasing popularity overseas, GeigerCars has announced that it plans to import a very small number of Vipers to Germany in the near future.

No word yet as to what the Viper’s final German price tag will be after various import costs and taxes are factored in, but rumors suggest that it will start at roughly 139,000 Euros, which is about $180,000. In the US the Viper bases at $97,395.Even with that higher import cost, the Viper is still a relative bargain when compared to some European supercars. Although it can’t be compared directly to something like the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, the SRT Viper is now considered by many to truly be a world-class supercar, and one that has a traditional manual gearbox as the only transmission option.

For the ninth year in a row, Horacio Pagani invited clients and friends to its “Vanishing Point� gathering at the Pagani factory in San Cesario sul Panaro, Italy. As always there was an impressive array of cars on show at the event, named after the 1971 car flick, with 11 Zondas, 3 Huayras and the first ever customer Zonda R Evo.Other rare Pagani supercars on hand for the gathering included a Zonda C12 with just 4,000 km on the clock, two Zonda Cinques, an HH, S, F, and Roadster.

Only days after doing a full review of the Nissan GT-R Track Pack edition, Motor Trend is back with yet another supercar comparison as the track-focused Godzilla faces off against the Audi R8 V10 Plus. These two all-wheel drive supercars represent the very pinnacle of technology and performance from each of their respective automakers, but the big question is how they perform on canyon roads and the racetrack. Each car has recently received a number of updates, such as the GT-R’s handling-focused Track Pack and the R8 V10’s new dual-clutch transmission.

The most important question, however, is which is the better supercar? Despite their many differences, MT still manages to determine a winner. Check out the video ahead to see how it all plays out.

The Moretti EGS compact electric sports car concept is the work of Brain Males, an automotive and transport design student from Coventry University who considered whether the transition from gasoline to electric cars could be eased by making them sexy and nostalgic. When creating the design, Brian looked back to small classic Italian racing cars, borrowing their smooth surfaces, two-tone paint jobs, and 1950s alloys and headlights. His main source of inspiration was the 1954 Moretti 750 Grand Sport, the defunct Italian carmaker’s most iconic model. The result is quite stunning.

If we’ve learned anything this week it’s that car washers in the UK are not the brightest. In the space of just a couple of days, two luxury car owners have returned from car washing companies to find their respective rides ruined. The first was a Ferrari 458 Italia in Portsmouth and the other was a Bentley Continental GTC up north in Manchester. While the Ferrari cleaner crashed while going for a Ferris Bueller-style joyride, it appears the Bentley was driven straight through the waiting area of the valet center. Thankfully it was unoccupied at the time of the slipup. (Hat tip to Robert Oldham.)

Coming directly from the good people at the duPont Registry is this mega gallery from its own Cars and Coffee event in St. Petersburg, Florida. With a wonderful display of over 400 cars and 600-700 people attending, the event "is for everyone who likes cars...there is plenty of automotive eye-candy bright and early Saturday morning," said publisher Tom DuPont. "It’s a great way to start your Saturday." This particular event is held the third Saturday of every month and its huge success has inspired duPont Registry to help establish additional Cars and Coffee events across the US.

The other day we brought you a rumor stemming from McLaren’s new Formula One engine deal with Honda. The speculation now spreading across the internet was that, given the renewed collaboration between the British and Japanese outfits on the racetrack, a potential extension could lead to jointly-developed road cars as well.Autocar, however, spoke to an unnamed McLaren “insider� who kyboshed the idea, saying that, “At the moment there is no anticipated impact on the road car division as a result of the Honda deal.�

The source reportedly further stated that the development of the car in question – designated project P13 and set to target the Porsche 911 Turbo – is already too advanced for Honda to have any input at this point. The source further pointed out that the team’s current deal with Mercedes doesn’t have any impact on the P1 or 12C, but apparently ignored the fact that the McLaren-Mercedes collaboration did produce the SLR. Nor did the source discount the possibility of Honda providing engines for future McLaren models – or for that matter, McLaren helping Honda develop (or possibly fine-tune at this point) the upcoming new Acura NSX.

They don't come along that often, so when Maserati brings out a concept the world takes notice. That was certainly the case in 1972 when one Giorgetto Giugiaro revealed his avant-garde creation dubbed the Boomerang, and even held true when a team of design students showcased its Maser concept at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.These and other concepts created over the years have given the Italian carmaker inspiration when creating production models, some of which are still on the horizon.

Penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Maserati Boomerang debuted at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show, building on the wedge-shape of the Bertone-styled Alfa Romeo Carabo that premiered in 1968, with inspiration coming from a trio of concepts: Alfa’s Caimano and Iguana and the VW/Porsche Tapiro.With a shape “drawn almost exclusively with a ruler�, the concept’s aerodynamic inefficiency was compensated by the 4.7-liter V8 borrowed from the Bora that gave it a 180mph top speed. Serving as a precursor to Giugiaro’s later cars, the radical design of the Boomerang allegedly convinced VW to appoint the Italian to design the original Golf.

The first Kubang debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2003, long before sport luxury SUVs became carmaker’s bread and butter. Nine years on and with luxury SUVs flooding the market, Maserati rereleased the SUV at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, sitting on the same platform as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.The concept will spawn the Levante, which recent reports suggest will be built in Italy and come with the turbo V6 and V8 engines that have already been launched for the Ghibli and Quattroporte, paired to an eight-speed automatic and Maserati’s new Q4 all-wheel drive system instead of Jeep's.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina chose Maserati as its featured marque, unveiling the Birdcage concept at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. Using the underpinnings from the Maserati MC12 GT1 racecar (itself based on the Ferrari Enzo), the Birdcage evoked the classic 1960s Maserati Birdcage racers but in a decidedly modern form that looked straight out of the future with its aerodynamic lines and canopy roof. Eight years later, the Birdcage still stands as one of Pininfarina's most beautiful designs to date, even if the Maserati won't be using its design atop the LaFerrari chassis.

Carrozzeria Touring’s first new concept after restarting operations in 2006 following a 40-year hiatus came in 2008 as the Maserati A8 GCS. Unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este five years ago, the A8 GCS took its inspiration from the beautiful Maserati A6 GCS which Pininfarina designed in 1954. It was based on the Maserati GranSport that preceded the GranTurismo, complete with its 385-horsepower 4.2-liter V8, and showed up in finished concept form the following year looking better than ever. We don't know if Touring ended up building any for private customers, but regardless the design endures as a striking one.

At the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, students of the Instituto Europeo Design revealed their Maserati Chicane concept, a 2+2 coupe with dimensions smaller than the GranTurismo and Quattroporte. At the time of its release, fans of the Trident marque were hopeful certain design cues could be carried over to Maserati’s upcoming sportscar. That has yet to arrive, although rumors of a two-door model to slot below the GranTurismo continue to surface. The concept was powered by a front-mounted V8 powering the rear wheels, whereas the anticipated sportscar will likely pack V6 mounted amidship. One way or another performance and style is guaranteed.

Carlex Design’s latest project could well be their finest to date. Based on the inimitable Porsche Carrera GT, the Polish interior specialist has treated the cabin to a complete transformation with black Carbon Optic leather trimmed with yellow thread to match the color of the calipers.Alcantara was also liberally applied to the high-quality interior, and was used for the floor mats with diamond quilting and to wrap the rear view mirror. Decorative stitching on the trunk lining rounds off the detailing on the Porsche supercar.

Despite the country's wonderful motoring history, many UK-based automakers didn't find success. Sure there’s Morgan, but it’s a niche company and even Jaguar Land Rover is now owned by India-based Tata. Although there have been some sincere attempts to revitalize some of them, brands like Triumph, TVR and Jensen have been resigned to the history books.The latter of these, Jensen, was first founded back in 1934 as a small coachbuilding firm.

Following World War II, the company began to build sports cars such as the CV8, a four-seat GT car built from 1962 until 1966. Despite Jensen’s success in the coachbuilding business (it was even hired by actor Clark Gable to build him a car based on a Ford V8 chassis), the company continued its quest into the road car business. In 1966, it launched the CV8’s replacement, the Interceptor.The hand-built Interceptor had a steel body instead of fiberglass, which Jensen had used in the past. With a body designed by Italian firm Carrozzeria Touring and a Chrysler 6.3-liter V8 engine under the hood, on paper the car looked to be a winning package.

The engine produced around 250 horsepower and was paired with a four-speed manual transmission and later a three-speed automatic. By 1971, another V8 became available, a 7.2-liter unit that was good for up to 330 horsepower. However, that higher output engine was available for the ‘71 model year only and it wasn’t long after this when things began to go sour for Jensen despite decent sales and giving the Interceptor regular styling updates.The company had changed ownership several years earlier and even its founders, brothers Alan and Richard Jensen, resigned due to disagreements with the new owners.

In 1970, a guy named Kjell Qvale became the majority shareholder and although he made some sincere efforts, the automaker finally folded in 1976. Before that happened, more than 6,400 Interceptors had been built and were available in various body styles that included a hatchback, coupe and convertible. All three had two doors with seating for four.It was sad news that yet another British automaker had failed, especially one that was building an Italian designed GT car with American V8 power. Efforts have been made fairly recently to revive Jensen, but so far they’ve proven unsuccessful.

It’s not too hard to find a used Interceptor these days but this one that’s for sale on eBay is actually quite rare. Not only was it built in the company’s final year of existence, but it’s also not a standard coupe. Instead, this one was built about a month into Jensen’s bankruptcy and features a coachbuild hard top that looks like a raised convertible roof. Just 46 examples had this feature, thus making it more attractive for collectors. This car has been fairly well maintained despite having a little over 90,000 miles on the odometer. It currently has a top bid of just over $25k but the reserve has yet to be met.