BMW M3 coupe gets stripped down to go club racing

BMW's M division is back in the business of building specialty street-legal race cars with a new lightweight version of the M3 called the GTS. The lightweight coupe, set to go on sale in early 2010 at a yet-undisclosed price, was conceived as a limited-edition model primarily for club-based racing in much the same way that Porsche builds the 911 GT3 Clubsport. But in a clear effort to link its track-based activities with the production-car side of its business, BMW's M division is offering the new car with a homologation package that will allow customers to register the M3 GTS for street use.

Underground Racing Lamborghini crashes at Texas Mile, driver survives

WITH VIDEO -- Underground Racing, the Charlotte, N.C., tuning shop that broke the 250-mph mark with a twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo in Texas last spring, saw that car crash on Oct. 23 after making another run at the Texas Mile high-speed challenge. Video of the run, posted on YouTube, shows the orange Gallardo passing the 1-mile marker on the closed runway, deploying a parachute and veering to the right and off the runway.

Ferrari 458 Speciale to debut at Frankfurt motor show

Update: Preview video added below, and yes, you can hear the car's engine -- barely -- through the thumping movie trailer-like music. A new Prancing Horse is set to go public at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show: Ferrari will use the event to introduce the 458 Speciale, which will join the 458 Italia and 458 Spider at the lower end of Ferrari's range. Visually, the 2,844 lb., mid-engined 458 Speciale doesn't depart too much from the 458 Italia, though the new model gets a more aggressive fascia and a massive hood duct that -- when coupled with an apparently F1-inspired interior -- hints at the no-nonsense sporting purpose of the car.