2009 Mercedes Benz SL63 AMG

Holy crap. The SL63 sounds like no other Mercedes-Benz. It goes like no other Mercedes-Benz - actually, it goes like an SL65 I guess, and maybe a few others. But that transmission! I love how it matches revs on automatic downshifts, to the accompaniment of some fine exhaust burble and what almost sounds like backfire.

Clearly, we are living in a true golden age of horsepower. As the Wall Streeters say, it appears that the chart has gone parabolic, which means that a major reversal is imminent. When the new era of four-cylinder hybrid S-classes arrives, I predict intense, head-shaking nostalgia for the likes of the SL63 AMG.