What's New in Exotic Cars for 2010

Four years after the Aston Martin DBS coupe made its appearance in the James Bond flick "Casino Royale," the Brits have chopped the top. That sounds a bit harsh for a fabric roof that folds neatly away behind the seats, so as not to interrupt the car's lovely lines. It's also insulated against noise when it's up, but not so much that it masks that distinctively throaty Aston exhaust note.

• Same engine and performance as the coupe
• Cloth top to keep weight down
• Two pop-up rollbars behind the seats deploy in a rollover

Gaydon joins the four-door sports coupe game with the introduction of the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide. The car debuted as a concept at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show; the production version will be introduced in late 2009, with customers taking delivery of the first units in early 2010.

• Four doors, four full-sized seats
• "Swan-wing" doors open up and out for easy access
• 6-liter V12 engine with 470 bhp
• First Aston built in Graz, Austria

Why settle for eight when you can have ten? That problem's been solved with the new Audi R8 V10, which has two more cylinders than the first incarnation of the German supercar. The R8 V10 won the EyesOn Design award for Best Production at its debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show -- and its easy to see why. U.S. customers can expect to take delivery in summer 2010.

• V10 Lamborghini engine with 525 hp
• Top speed is 195; 0-60 in under 4 seconds
• First-ever all-LED headlights
• Larger side air intakes

The Bentley Continental Supersports is the fastest Bentley ever built -- and it will be able to run on FlexFuel, to boot. The Supersports made its debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, and the first cars will reach their new homes as soon as summer 2009. The global edition of the car will be FlexFuel capable, in addition to gasoline, from the get-go, but North American cars will have to wait a year, pending regulatory approval.

• First biofuel Bentley
• Top speed 204; 0-60 in 3.7 seconds
• 243 pounds lighter than the Continental GT Speed
• W12 engine with 621 hp

It seems like its been a long wait for the Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid sports car to rival the electric Tesla Roadster. But after a couple of years on the auto show circuit, the production car will start being delivered to customers in 2010. The convertible S version is expected to roll out in 2011.

• 2-liter engine in the front, lithium-ion batteries in the back
• 300-mile range, 100 mpg, 125 mph top speed
• Solar-panel roof is just cool, and it cools the interior

Valentino Balboni has test driven nearly every Lamborghini model since 1973. What better way to honor a man so integral to the feel of a Lamborghini than to name a special edition after him, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni. It's a far better retirement gift than a watch.

• 550 hp, and the first Lambo rear-wheel drive in years
• Limited to 250 units
• Special-edition gold paint with white stripes
• Priced around $270,000

The fighting bull gets faster with the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, a faster, lighter, more powerful, limited edition of the Murcielago LP 640-4. Chassis, engine, transmission, and interior all got worked over to reduce the car's weight by 220 pounds overall. Customers have a choice of two rear wings: the standard, smaller one give a top speed of 212 mph, while the large "Aeropack Wing" adds downforce but lowers the top speed to 209 mph.

• Power-to-weight ratio of 5.1 lbs per hp
• Top speed 212 mph; 0-62 in 3.2 seconds
• Limited to 350 examples
• Redesigned front end with carbon-fiber spoiler

Another new entry into the four-seat sports car market: the 2010 Lotus Evora. The first 450 of these small sportsters will be available only as Launch Editions laden with goodies, like a high-end Alpine stereo and reversing camera, with either Ardent Red or British Racing Green paint. European deliveries start in May 2009, with North American cars to cross the pond in early 2010.

• The only mid-engined 2+2 in production right now
• 3.5-liter V6
• Top speed 161 mph; 0-62 in just over 5 seconds
• Also available as a two-seater with room for luggage

After giving us the Lotus Evora four-seater, the British company returned to racing form by adding the Lotus Exige Cup 260 to the lineup of wasp-waisted glorified go-karts. Already light and powerful, the Exige dropped a few pounds and added a few horsepower. The 260 is an update of the Exige Cup 240 that Lotus introduced in 2006, with some design and technical input from the Exige GT3 race car.

• Now with more carbon fiber!
• 0-62 mph in 4.1 seconds
• Homologated for road use
• 6.8 pounds per horsepower
• 27 mpg