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Drop-dead, deliciously crushworthy cars (pictures)

If you love horsepower and killer looks, or plush interiors engineered to pamper, you're in good company. Check out Crave's gallery of some of the most pricey, posh autos around.

Tim Hornyak
Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade. E-mail Tim.
Tim Hornyak
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1 of 14 Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Lamborghini Veneno

In the last few weeks, Crave has salivated unashamedly over craveworthy goods, starting with fabulous phones and tablets made for Midas and followed by overwrought wristwatches and opulent home theater gear to die for. This week, we're looking at ridiculously fast and expensive cars that make our knees weak.

How do you celebrate 50 years as a supercar maker? By unleashing a beast like this. Only three Lamborghini Venenos are being made, and all were snapped up by die-hard fans before it even debuted.

With a $3.9 million price tag, this street-legal racer -- named after a legendary fighting bull -- can do 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. Unveiled at the 2013 Geneva auto show for the firm's 50th anniversary, the Veneno is based on the Aventador and its 6.5-liter V-12 engine, upgraded to 739 horsepower, with a top speed of 220 mph. Here, Lamborghini CEO and Chairman Stephan Winkelmann shows it off.

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2 of 14 Antuan Goodwin/CNET

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse

Meet the fastest production convertible in the world. Priced at a nosebleeding 1.69 million euros ($2,177,396), the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse kicks out a whopping 1,200 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet of torque with its 8-liter, 16-cylinder engine and four turbochargers. That propels it from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds. In 2013, the car set a record for the fastest roadster, at 254.04 mph.
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3 of 14 Aston Martin

Aston Martin CC100

Based on the 1959 Le Mans-winning DBR1, Aston Martin's retro-futuristic CC100 speedster concept celebrates 100 years of automaking glory. It has a 5.9-liter V-12 engine that can push it from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, and an open-topped carbon-fiber body to keep the weight down.

The plush leather interior features safety harnesses, glass control buttons, and colorful dashboard indicators. There's no windshield, but if you're wearing a full-visor helmet, you won't swallow the storm of insects hitting your face on the highway. Still, we're hoping the CC100 makes it to limited production in one form or another.

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4 of 14 Bentley Motors

Bentley Mulsanne

With its lavishly furnished interior of wood, steel, and bull-hide leather, the Bentley Mulsanne sets a regal tone both inside and out.

There are three speakers on each front door, and 14 more throughout the cabin. If you must work (egad!), the rear seats have motorized tray tables fitted with iPads and wireless keyboards, a $33,620 option. The car's wireless hot spot provides Internet access on the road.

Under the hood is a hand-built 6.75-liter V-8 engine delivering 505 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque. It'll give you a smooth enough ride for you to soon forget the $290,000 price tag, a relative pittance compared with cars on the ridiculous end of the high-end ride spectrum.

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5 of 14 Lamborghini

Lamborghini Egoista

If Batman piloted a spaceship, it might look something like the Lamborghini Egoista.

In the words of Volkswagen design chief Walter De Silva, "It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista (selfish)."

With a 600 horsepower 5.2-liter V-10 engine and a roof-entry, carbon fiber-aluminum cockpit inspired by an Apache helicopter, the one-seater Egoista also marks Lamborghini's 50th anniversary in over-the-top style.

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6 of 14 W Motors

Lykan Hypersport

Billed as "the first Arabian hypercar," the Lykan Hypersport from Dubai-based W Motors debuted at the 2013 Qatar Motor Show, boasting a 750-horsepower, 2.8-second 0-62 mph Porsche engine with a top speed of 245 mph.

No more than 10 of these monsters will be made, and each will feature diamond-coated headlight LEDs and gold leaf in the engine bay. The price? $3.4 million.

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7 of 14 Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce Wraith

As the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever produced, the two-door Wraith has a 624-horsepower, V-12 engine that does 0 to 60 mph in only 4.4 seconds. Its GPS analyzes the road ahead and helps select the best gearbox behavior for upcoming conditions.

Among the many options over its 245,000 euro ($328,000) price, you can have 1,340 fiber optics sewn into the interior roof for your very own starry sky.

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8 of 14 Vencer

Vencer Sarthe

After an appearance in Monaco earlier this year, the hand-built, two-seater Vencer Sarthe will likely turn heads as an upstart when it appears at this year's Salon Prive luxury car show in Britain.

Named for the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe race course, the Dutch supercar has an eight-cylinder engine of 510 horsepower that delivers a top speed of 202 mph and 0 to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds. Only four Sarthes are being built this year and 10 in 2014. Pricing starts at about $350,000.

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9 of 14 McLaren

McLaren P1

When McLaren's P1 supercar begins shipping early next year, buyers will have forked over $1.2 million for the privilege of owning this luxury hybrid, which kicks out 903 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. The power train consists of a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-8 and an electric drive motor, with batteries recharged via the grid or regenerative braking. Of course it wouldn't be as exclusive if too many were made, so production will be limited to 375 units.
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10 of 14 Maybach

Maybach Exelero

Sadly, luxury maker Maybach was recently closed down by Daimler, but its one-off prototype Exelero lives on in the dreams of deluxe auto fans as one of the most expensive concept cars ever made. The reported sale price to rapper Birdman: $8 million.

Commissioned by Fulda Tyres to test wide tires, the Exelero has a 700-horsepower twin-turbo V-12 engine that does 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds with a top speed of 218 mph.

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11 of 14 Ferrari

LaFerrari

Unveiled at the 2013 Geneva auto show, Ferrari's LaFerrari is a stunning hybrid supercar that puts a whopping 960 horsepower at the driver's service with RPMs that redline at 9,250. A successor to the 2002 Enzo Ferrari flagship supercar, LaFerrari is one of the world's fastest hybrids, with a 6.3-liter V12 engine and a top speed of 220 mph. Only 499 will be made, with price tags expected at between $1.2 million and $1.5 million.
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12 of 14 Zenvo

Zenvo ST1

Built for power and made in Denmark, the Zenvo ST1 has a 7-liter V-8 engine, with a supercharger and turbocharger that ramp up its output to 1,104 horsepower, 1,430 pound-feet of torque, and a top speed of 233 mph.

Zenvo began production in 2009, and produces only three cars per year, with total output capped at 15. If you want to take one of them home, it will cost you a cool $1.3 million or more.

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13 of 14 Hennessey

Hennessey Venom GT

One of the fastest production cars in the world, Hennessey's $1.2 million Venom GT cranks out the power with a 7-liter V-8 engine with dual turbochargers, producing more than 1,200 horsepower. Its top speed is 266 mph.
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14 of 14 Porsche

Porsche 918 Spyder

If you don't have millions for the supercar of your dreams, Porsche recently showed off the final design of its 918 Spyder, expected to enter production in 2015. For only $845,000, you get a neck-snapping 887 horsepower from a combined V-8 engine and plug-in electric power, delivering 0-62 mph in only 2.8 seconds.

Building on the longstanding success of the 911, Porsche sees the 918 as a kind of template that will provide "the gene pool for the Porsche sports cars of the future."

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