Cars to Covet

The mere name Alfa Romeo is already music to the ears. This fabled Italian automaker is known for crafting beautiful machines, none more so than the 8C Competizione. Its gorgeous lines are inspired by Alfa racers from the '30s and '40s, and it is named after the 8C race car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four straight years, from 1931 to 1934. Only 500 were produced, and quickly sold for more than $225,000 each. The 8C coupe has a carbon fiber body and is powered by a 4.7-liter 450-horsepower V8 engine with a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

View Pictures:  Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

There's a reason some motorists almost cause accidents just to snap photos of the Audi R8 Spyder. It has classic proportions that create visual magic, and it also manages to bring a fresh perspective to the familiar supercar shape, one that is designed around a massive engine positioned just ahead of the rear wheels. That amalgamation of classic proportions and progressive styling helps explain why people react to the R8 as if they've just seen a UFO. When blasting down the road, it really does become an unidentified flying object — at once familiar and unfamiliar, but intriguing no matter what.

Read:  Audi R8 Spyder Unveiled at Frankfurt

If you want to know why someone would envy a person who owns this stunning Duesenberg SJ, we pity you. This particular vehicle sold for $3.3 million during last year's Monterey Auto Week in Northern California. One of only 36 SJs produced, this particular model is further set apart by one-of-a-kind open coachwork designed by Bohman & Schwartz.

Bing:1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Roadster

Long, low and lean, the 250 GTO is one of the rarest Ferraris in the legendary Italian carmaker's 63-year history. In its time, the GTO was the quintessential Grand Touring car; it could win races at the highest level, yet be driven on the road. Its interior is Spartan, but all is forgiven when you hear the addictive howl of its 3.0-liter V12 engine, which develops 300 horsepower. You could have bought a new GTO for $18,000 in the early '60s, but a collector paid $42 million for a pristine 1962 model in 2008.

Video: Forza Motorsport 3 Tribute to Ferrari

When you make the scene in Vegas, baby, you want to show in no uncertain terms that you're "The Man." For this, a bright yellow Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce is just what the doctor ordered. The 6.5-liter 670-horsepower V12 engine and rear-biased all-wheel-drive system will let you spin the huge rear gumballs and get the car sideways, just a bit.

Bing: Lamborghini Murcielago

You want people to envy you? Drive up in this bad boy. This is not a radical open-wheel race car from the eponymous Formula One team, but rather a stunning exotic designed by the visionary automotive artisans Gordon Murray and Peter Stevens. It has a full carbon-fiber structure and body and a 6.0-liter 600-horsepower V12 engine by BMW, and it can go 240 mph.

Bing: McLaren F1

You would think that Mercedes' new SLS AMG sports car couldn't be made any sexier. But this track-only version proves otherwise. Race cars have an innate cool factor, so enhancing the already stunning SLS with huge wings and splitters for better aerodynamics, and lowering the suspension so the car seems as if it's millimeters off the ground, create a potent and intoxicating supercar cocktail. The matte white paint scheme amplifies the impression that the SLS AMG GT3 is a thoroughbred race car designed for the serious pursuit of sustained speed.

Video: Wheels Up With the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Porsche's admittedly stunning plug-in hybrid earns astonishment purely on the basis of the claims made on its behalf. Looking a bit like the evolution of a Carrera GT, the 918 Spyder is powered by both a 500-horsepower V8 engine and a pair of electric motors (one for each axle) producing an additional 218 horses. At full gallop it can theoretically reach 62 mph in 3.2 seconds and reach 198 mph on the high end. Porsche says it can also achieve 78 mpg. That's truly outrageous — in a wonderful way, of course.

View Pictures:  Porsche at the Geneva Show

Nothing conveys ultimate class and achievement more than a Rolls-Royce. Fabulously sensual and cosseting inside, this Phantom has to be the quietest, smoothest-running car ever made. Its endless, rear-hinged, power-operated doors make for the easiest and most graceful ingress and egress. A sophisticated lady in a long silk evening gown will truly appreciate it.

View Pictures:  Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe in Tuscany

In the early '60s, a tall, lanky Texan named Carroll Shelby set out to beat Ferrari at the highest level of sports-car racing by stuffing a Ford V8 engine under the hood of a classic British roadster. The AC Cobra was born. That vehicle was followed by the legendary Cobra 427 Roadster pictured here, with its radically flared fenders and 7.0-liter V8 engine. Rarest and most valuable are the S/C models (for semi/competition), barely detuned race cars of which only 31 were built. The Cobra roadster was a beast of a car then, and nothing has ever quite matched its raw power and brutish looks.

Seven Deadly Sins

Lust: Celebrity home wreckers
Wrath: Famous revenge cases
Greed: CEOs brought down by greed
Envy: Celebrity homes
Pride: Athletes
Gluttony: Outrageous food
Sloth: Famous for doing nothing