Wait, Mansory's Monopoly-Themed G-Wagen Is Actually Awesome
Mansory
likes to make audacious cars. The company's creations often have bold body kits, colorful interiors, and too much carbon fiber. But its latest build is actually really cool. The aftermarket specialist collaborated with pop artist Alec Monopoly to hand-paint 10 convertible
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
SUVs, each a one-off creation.
Alec's art frequently features the Mr. Monopoly character, which is prominent on Mansory's new G-Class. The example shown here has the character on the shortened rear doors, with splashes of teal, yellow, pink, blue, green, and red on the sides. The spare tire carrier on the back features a colorful motif of Mr. Monopoly, Scrooge McDuck, and Richie Rich.
Photo by: Mansory
Photo by: Mansory
Under the hood is Mercedes' twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 engine, which now makes 820 horsepower and 848 pound-feet of torque. Mansory reprogrammed the electronics, increasing the output from the standard 585 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. The modded G-Class can hit 62 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and reach a 155-mph top speed.
Inside, the 10 lucky customers will be able to pick the leather type, color, quilting, and more. However, the cabin doesn't escape Alec's creativity. Several trim pieces will feature handcrafted designs, like on the door trim and the dashboard handle.
The three money-loving characters are featured throughout the cabin, with plenty of references to cash, which you'll need plenty of if you want this Mansory. Not only does it feature unique artwork, but each
Mercedes
undergoes significant modifications to accommodate the convertible roof, and that's not cheap.
Photo by: Mansory
Check Out More Mansory Cars:
Mansory's BMW M5 Is a Carbon-Fueled Fever Dream
This Might Be Mansory's Worst Car Yet
Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily.
back
Sign up
For more information, read our
Privacy Policy
and
Terms of Use
.
Source:
Mansory
Share this Story
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Reddit
WhatsApp
E-Mail
Got a tip for us? Email:
tips@motor1.com
Join the conversation
(
)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Avenga: Europe Needs Own Car Software Or It Will Become Chinese Colony
Avenga has recently inherited a partnership with the McLaren Formula 1 team Most automakers are starting to get to grips with electrification. But the parallel revolution of software is still proving problematic. In March, Volkswagen's Cariad software division announced 1,600 layoffs, a third of its staff, as this area continued to be a thorn in the side of the group since it caused significant delays in the launch of the ID.3 in 2020. Avenga wants to change that and give European car producers the software leadership to match the engineering prowess they have enjoyed for decades. I talked to Avenga CEO, Ludovic Gaudé, about how his company plans to turn keep Europe's cars competitive. The New Avenga 'Avenga is an aggregate of 12 companies with the view of building one of the largest software development organisations in Europe,' says Gaudé. 'The idea of the investment behind Avenga is that obviously everything is going digital nowadays, but most of the companies that are extracting value from this are outside of Europe. We wanted to create a European-led company focusing on this and supporting not only European clients, but also outside Europe with the European mindset.' The Avenga name comes from one of the 12 companies that came together. Previously the group had been called Qinshift, but this seemed like a difficult brand to use internationally, whereas Avenga is simpler to pronounce. The main idea of Qinshift remains, however, and that is about shifting the way companies approach software together. For automotive, that means the rise of the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV), but that isn't the only area Avenga is working on. European automakers have had trouble delivering the software integration championed by companies ... More like Tesla 'We are not only an automotive company,' says Gaudé. 'It's about 25% of our business. The rest is more around Telco, media, banking, and retail. We are building software from the more front end-related mobile web all the way down to where the algorithm and the intelligence are being built on the back end. We also develop embedded software closer to the to the silicon and this is where it comes into play with automotive because you must tackle the different dimensions of the SDV. A lot of this comes from thinking about what people are going to do in their cars now because they are autonomous and highly connected. There's a lot of lot more that people can do in their in their cars so you need to have a platform that allows that.' Gaudé draws a parallel with what happened in the smartphone business around 20 years ago, which didn't go well for incumbent brands. 'Telco operators had access to all the data, all the geolocation, and they knew exactly the behavior of all of us in Europe or elsewhere,' he argues. 'But they couldn't do anything with it. They were completely bypassed by the likes of Google. This is what the automaking OEMs are afraid of. When Tesla came into the market, all the CEOs of the European car manufacturers had the same approach as Nokia had in 2006 when iPhone was launched.' They thought Tesla would find it's not as easy as it thought to build cars. 'But Tesla looked at the problem in a completely different way. There is this joke about software on wheels. This is what Tesla has been promoting, but the car manufacturers saw what happened with the telcos. They're trying not to become a dumb pipe or piece of hardware. However, it has proven to be very difficult for them to put this in motion.' Avenga: Solving Europe's SDV Conundrum? The troubles at Cariad exemplify this. 'They are experiencing problems because two thirds of their people are used to working in a certain way,' say Gaudé. 'Their development cycle is very linear, not agile at all. They are trying to mimic what others are doing, but what they should be doing is getting rid of the entire team and starting from zero. They are not doing that and now what they are pursuing is more a path of reducing costs, so it's been extremely difficult.' The Volkswagen ID.3 was plagued with software problems that delayed its launch. There are some positive signs, however. 'European car manufacturers all have EVs,' says Gaudé. 'They all have software in their in their vehicle. You see the screens are becoming bigger. The use cases are becoming wider. You see the use of more modern technologies to provide more safety for drivers. You have tools that are observing the angle of your eyes, or to see if your eye is closed or not and then shaking the wheel if something goes wrong.' They are also providing over-the-air software updates like smartphones and computers. 'They are making a step forward.' However, Tesla isn't the only threat anymore. Chinese automakers have also been quicker to adopt the SDV approach, and are even starting to challenge the latest Tesla Model Y. 'You have a similar vehicle to a Porsche coming from China that is costing a quarter of what it cost in Germany,' says Gaudé. 'It's been super hard for the European OEMs, for fear of cannibalization, to jump with two feet into this space.' Chinese challengers like Xiaomi are delivering Porsche-like performance for a much lower price This is where Avenga plans to help European OEMs compete. 'We are not a hardware company,' says Gaudé. 'We are pure software. We help with designing new user experiences within the car. For example, there is no reason why inside a car all the seats need to be directed to the front. You could have a table inside and once they become autonomous you could play Poker. This is how things could change. We are also working on safety and driving mechanisms to help car manufacturers develop solutions that are not completely autonomous but that will assist people in driving.' Avenga is also helping to develop software that optimizes the manufacturing phase. 'You can take preventive actions to maintain the production facility before it's too late,' says Gaudé. 'AI models can help with that. We are also working with them on business models because most of the time your car is sitting in the garage doing nothing.' This includes car sharing and related capabilities like automatic parking. 'The entire concept around mobility extends beyond the SDV.' Gaudé sees another fundamental shift in the automotive industry on the horizon, partly enabled by autonomous driving and AI. 'It's hard to know if it's going to happen next month or in a year from now,' he says. 'Some say AI will be replacing the human. The AI is going to be the main driver, and the human will be assisting the AI. It will take the task on its own and ask a human to help when needed.' One of Avenga's biggest European clients so far is Skoda, where cameras at the production line detect manufacturing defects and provide preventative maintenance to fix them before the vehicle is released for sale. Avenga is also helping Skoda with using mobile phones as a key and connectivity for over-the-air software updates. Avenga Partnership With McLaren F1 However, the first place you're likely to see the Avenga brand is likely to be on a McLaren Formula 1 car. 'We have taken advantage of passthrough sponsoring from one of our sister companies called Allwyn,' says Gaudé. However, it's early days for this partnership. 'The relationship just started a couple of months ago. We are exploring with them how we can work on two aspects of their development. One is how they can increase their performance. Lando is winning pole position with around 1/4 of a second, so after 60 laps any tiny detail can add up. You need to be super precise and innovative. We are working with them on how we can expose their data in a way that in real time can have a positive impact on their performance. The other area that is interesting in motorsport is how to engage with the fanbase. We have some experience in creating experiences so that fans continuously feel connected emotionally.' Avenga hopes to leverage AI to help improve McLaren's F1 strategy Avenga also hopes to leverage the latest capabilities of Generative AI for optimizing strategy in Formula 1. 'The FIA issues a thick book every year about what to do and not do, and what are the penalties,' says Gaudé. 'You can use those data points to help the principal while he's making course strategies. We are working on this with Large Language Models and the history of FIA interpretation of certain decisions that the drivers or the principals have made. We are working on how to maximize outcomes based on those past experiences. It's not so easy for a human to do that, especially when you are in a in the middle of the action.' The question remains how European car software can compete with what American and Chinese companies are now offering, and how much Avenga can contribute. 'In order for us not to become a colony of the US or China, when it comes to software, we will have to develop our own,' says Gaudé. 'We must step into this this new era. We are living in extraordinary times. As someone who lived through the PC revolution some 30-40 years ago, to mobile, to the Internet, I can see the change is not going to be like the industrial revolution. It's not going to take years. It's going to be fast. It's exciting. And we don't have a choice, because if we don't jump into this, we're going to be left behind.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lando Norris triumphs in Austria to cut Oscar Piastri's advantage in title race
Lando Norris won the battle of the McLarens to land a morale-boosting victory in Austria which breathes fresh life into his world championship charge. Norris kept his nerve in a thrilling duel with Oscar Piastri to take his third triumph of the season, reducing the title deficit to his team-mate to 15 points from 22. Advertisement A fortnight after Norris ran into the back of Piastri in Canada, the two McLaren men came within centimetres of another collision on lap 20 of 70. Piastri momentarily lost control of his car as he attempted a lunge at turn four, before he was warned not to attempt a similar move – a clear sign McLaren had called off the fight. Norris took the chequered flag 2.7 seconds clear of Piastri, with Charles Leclerc finishing third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth with the seven-time world champion's wait for a first podium in Ferrari colours extending to his home race at Silverstone next weekend. Max Verstappen's race lasted three corners after he was taken out by Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli. The first-lap retirement leaves him 61 points off the championship pace. George Russell took fifth for Mercedes. Advertisement Norris departed Montreal with his championship hopes hanging in the balance after a collision with Piastri which the British driver said made him look like a fool. But Norris has been a driver reborn here in the Styrian mountains, securing an emphatic pole position before holding off Piastri with a statement victory. Norris nailed his getaway to keep Leclerc behind on the run 200-metre charge to turn one with Piastri then launching his McLaren around the outside of the Ferrari and into second place, providing him with clear sight of his team-mate. Verstappen had called his car 'undriveable' in qualifying on his way to taking a lowly seventh grid spot. And his torrid weekend was over on the first lap when Antonelli arrived like a torpedo at the third corner to T-bone the four-time world champion. Advertisement 'I'm out, got hit, like crazy,' Verstappen said. 'F****** idiots.' In the other Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda was penalised for crunching Franco Colapinto and would finish 16th and last. A desperate weekend for Red Bull at their home event. Back to the front, and the safety car – released following the first-lap drama – came in at the end of lap three. For the next 16 laps, Norris would never be more than a second clear of Piastri. Oscar Piastri congratulates Norris (Darko Bandic/AP) And on the 11th lap, Piastri made the first move when he overtook Norris on the entry to turn three. Norris did not challenge knowing that a clean exit would provide him with a slingshot on the downhill drag to the next corner, and his wily decision worked when he got his man back on the inside of the right-hander. Advertisement Clean racing from both, and the gap remained at half a second. Norris then ran wide on the exit of the final bend on lap 15 allowing Piastri a chance to close, but the Australian resisted a challenge. It was nip-and-tuck before Piastri attempted a banzai dive at turn four on lap 20. Piastri locked his front-right tyre and came agonisingly close to sliding into Norris' car. Lewis Hamilton's wait for a first podium in Ferrari colours continued (Darko Bandic/AP) McLaren promptly hauled in Norris for his first of two tyre changes. Piastri, perhaps as punishment, was left out on track with a flat-spotted tyre for four additional laps and was losing time – a signal that McLaren had seen enough. Advertisement By the time Piastri emerged from his stop, Norris was six seconds up the road. 'The feedback from the pit-wall was that the move into turn four was too marginal and we can't do that again,' Piastri was told by his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Norris came in for his second stop with 18 laps remaining with a three-second lead. Piastri would stop the next time around and was then forced to take to the grass as he attempted to lap Colapinto in 14th. Piastri continued his charge and with 10 laps to go was back within two seconds. 'I need some pace,' Norris said. 'Please help.' But Piastri would not get a sniff as Norris took the chequered flag for his seventh career win – a perfect tonic as a pre-cursor to next weekend's British Grand Prix. Advertisement 'We had a great battle, that's for sure,' Norris said. 'It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress, but a nice battle. It was tricky, hot and tiring, but the perfect result as a team.' Piastri said on the radio: 'Sorry for my move at turn four, that was my bad.' He added: 'I tried my absolute best and I probably could have done a better job when I momentarily got ahead. It was a bit on the edge, and I might have pushed a bit too far, but it was a good race and that is what we are here to do, to race each other and fight for wins.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lando Norris Wins Austrian Grand Prix, Chips Away at Teammate's Championship Lead
Lando Norris was able to translate his five-second gap above the field in qualifying to a win of 1.8 seconds over his teammate, Oscar Piastri, with the rest of the field nearly 20 seconds behind. Piastri and Norris battled across the opening 20 laps before Norris pulled away ahead of the first round of pit stops, with Norris pitting four laps ahead of Piastri and holding a six-second advantage at Piastri's pit exit and track return. "We had a great battle, it was a lot of fun, for me a lot of stress, but a lot of fun," Norris told F1TV. Well done to Oscar, hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch." The McLarens were followed by the Ferraris, with Charles Leclerc in third and Lewis Hamilton following 9 seconds back in fourth. The race got off to a rocky start with Carlos Sainz's Williams failing to start on the formation lap, which led to a larger brake failure and fire. On the second shot on the start, in the infamous Turn 3, Antonelli got into Max Verstappen, taking them both out of the race. Alex Albon would become the second Williams and fourth and final car to retire from the grand prix. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car Sign in to access your portfolio
