For the rates Venetian gondoliers charge you might expect a massage and a 3-course meal during your cruise of the canals. With the introduction of the Voga Voyage at Loews Coronado Bay Resort Gondola Company, you can at least check the massage off the list.

Your vessel for the journey among the Coronado Cays will be a softly wrapped, sun-warmed massage table. In turn, that table will ride upon an authentic 33-foot gondola that launches from the resort's private marina and then embarks on an hour-long cruise of Mediterranean-like waterways. Forty minutes of that will be occupied by masseurs tending to your physical needs, which includes the laying on of sunscreen before the more serious application of massaging hands. The last ten minutes of the trip will be given to sight-seeing, if you're in any mood for that, while you and your chère company feast on the gondola's supply of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Booking the $499 Voga Voyage also gets you a free night at the resort and its amenities, spread out on a secluded, 15-acre peninsula. And having saved on airfare to the Italian province, you just might have enough left over for the 3-course meal. It's certainly not what Iago meant when he mentioned "creating the beast with two backs," but this ride has a far less drama and a much happier ending...

German automakers have elevated the crossing of traditional market segments into an art form, BMW arguably chief among them. Joining the X6 – a sort of cross between a sport-utility vehicle and a sports coupe – is the new 5 Series Gran Turismo, revealed in production trim to the public at the Frankfurt auto show.

Combining what BMW claims is the head room of the X5 and the legroom of the 7 Series in a more compact form, the 5 Series GT bridges the gap between a tall wagon and a short sport-ute. A strange concept, to be sure, but one which BMW appears to have pulled off with aplomb. Available with a range of engines starting with a 245hp diesel and topping out at the 407hp twin-turbo V8, the Gran Turismo is slated to replace the 5 Series Touring wagon variant in the American market in the near future, but you can see it now in our high-resolution image gallery below.

Any day with a new Ferrari is bound to be a good day. So even amidst all the new vehicle launches and concept car debuts which we've been bringing you from Frankfurt, the new Ferrari 458 Italia stands out.

A complete redesign of Maranello's mid-engine V8 supercar, the 458 incorporates the latest technologies gleaned from the F1 circuit: components like flexible aerodynamic elements, a "virtual race engineer" system, a multi-function steering wheel localizing all the controls, and an all-new 4.5-liter V8 engine that revs all the way up to 9000 rpm. 562 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque hustle it up to sixty in 3.4 seconds and to a 202 mph top speed. We checked out the pair of Italias which Ferrari displayed at the Frankfurt Messe, and so can you in the gallery below.

If you want to be driven around in a Rolls-Royce, the Phantom is the car for you. But if you want a Rolls-Royce saloon in which to drive yourself around, you'll want the Ghost. Closely mirroring the 200EX concept car which the most prestigious of motor marques unveiled at the Geneva show this past March, the new Ghost is smaller, more nimble and more powerful than the big limousine under which it slots in the company's range, to say nothing of the two-door Phantom Coupe and convertible Phantom Drophead Coupe variations.

Compared to the Phantom sedan, the Ghost is nearly a foot and a half shorter but offers over a hundred more horsepower than its bigger brother. But don't let its size fool you: the Ghost is all Rolls, and packs all the finest touches you'd expect from Goodwood's finest. It even has the rear-hinged rear doors with the hidden umbrella compartment, opening up on a luxurious cabin of soft leather, thick carpets and lacquered wood veneers. It's the Rolls-Royce for the next decade, and we got a closer look at the Frankfurt Auto Show where the new Rolls was unveiled for the first time in production spec. See for yourself in the gallery below.

If you're looking for an alternative to the likes of the Bentley Continental GTC, Aston Martin DB9 Volante or BMW 6 Series convertible, Maserati figures they've got just what you're looking for. Called the GranCabrio, it's based on the GranTurismo and was released a couple of weeks ago ahead of its debut last week at the Frankfurt auto show.

Exquisitely crafted with a Ferrari-designed 4.7-liter V8 engine, the GranCabrio offers the longest wheelbase on the market for a true four-seat cabin where many of its competitors are smaller 2+2s. It's been a long time in the making, and is finally here. Click on the thumbnail images below to browse our high-resolution photo gallery from the car's launch in Frankfurt.

Saab's entering a new era. After twenty years under the General Motors umbrella, the Swedish automaker has been sold to the supercar-maker Koenigsegg. And this is its first new product.

The result of several years of development, the new 9-5 shares many mechanical components with other GM products, but will be assembled entirely in-house at Saab's own factory in Trollhattan, Sweden. And the design is uniquely Saab, drawing from the company's background in aviation. Turbocharged engines include a 220-horsepower 2-liter four and a 160hp diesel, available with Saab's proprietary XWD torque-shifting four-wheel-drive system. Whether it will help Saab sink or swim in today's competitive premium auto market remains to be seen, but you can have an early look in the photo gallery below.

The Ultimate Driving Machine. That's the tag which BMW has ascribed to itself. And while the Bavarian automaker offers several sporty models, it lacks what industry insiders refer to as a "halo vehicle". That is, one model that sums up with the brand stands for. But they're said to be working on a new supercar – to rival the likes of the Audi R8 and Mercedes SLS AMG – and this could hint at the direction they could take it.

Called the Vision EfficientDynamics, we initially brought you details of the concept car a couple of weeks ago in the ramp-up to the Frankfurt Auto Show, where BMW finally took the wraps off the enticing new concept. But while its competitors continue building bigger and more powerful performance machines, BMW's concept takes a different approach. The engine is a tiny 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo-diesel, coupled to an electric motor for hybrid propulsion. Lightweight construction helps the Vision get up to sixty in just 4.8 seconds while returning 62.6 miles per gallon on the European cycle, figures which, combined, its rivals can only dream of. And so can we, but in the meantime we've got photos from the concept's debut in Frankfurt. Just click on the thumbnails below.

The heat is on among the world's automakers to produce hybrid vehicles. And since they're all the rage among the trendy crowd, it should come as no surprise that luxury brands are getting in on the action in a big way. Foremost among them is Lexus, which has made hybrid drivetrains its cause-du-jour, offering gasoline-electric versions of many of its luxury sedans, in addition to the world's first dedicated luxury hybrid, the HS250h. As promised, Lexus rolled in to Frankfurt with a new concept called the LF-Ch.

Hinting both at a competitor for the likes of the BMW 1 Series, Audi A3 and Volvo C30 while previewing its design direction for upcoming models, the LF-Ch drew mixed reviews at the show. Viewed from some angles, the concept car had some interesting lines, but it looked bloated from others. We'll let you make up your own mind: just click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge in our high-resolution photo gallery.

Porsche has made a veritable science out of spinning off various variants from its iconic 911 range. The rear-engine sportscar can be ordered with two-wheel-drive or four; coupe, cabrio or targa; naturally-aspirated or turbo; and just about every permutation and combination thereof, to say nothing of special editions and the performance-oriented GT models. Since revising the entire range, Porsche has released new Turbo, Turbo Cabriolet, GT3 RS and Sport Classic models, all in the ramp-up to the Frankfurt Auto Show where the new models made their debut, and we were on hand to see them up close.

The Turbo coupe and Turbo Cabriolet pack a 3.8-liter engine with direct injection and variable turbochargers to offer up 500 horsepower at all four wheels. The GT3 RS is one of the most extreme variants in the 911 catalog, the GT3 RS drives 450 horsepower to the rear wheels in a track-oriented package with neon-colored wings and graphics, while the exclusive Sport Classic produces 403hp in a retro package. Even the largest Porsche dealers aren't likely to stock all three, so have a look in our high-resolution photo galleries below to see them each from all the angles.

One of the most distinctive trends this fall season is the bag-within-a-bag look. Several designers have created looks that look like a big bag swallowed a smaller one. One of Fendi's key styles this season is the peek-a-boo which comes in a variety of different materials and colors. This one is rendered in relaxed dark brown suede with a more rigid interior of red calf leather giving the appearance of being both dressed up and dressed down at the same time It measures 15 4/5"H x 11 4/5"W x 5 9/10"D and sells for $2,420.

Unlike its automotive counterpart which keeps making its cars bigger and bigger, Porsche Design tends to keep things small. The product design division of the German automaker turns its talents on everything from mobile phones and watches to clothing and luggage. But this time they're thinking a bit bigger. A lot bigger, actually.

We brought you initial information about the company's impending collaboration with Singapore's Royal Falcon Fleet ship yard last year when it was still in the embryonic stage. But design work has now been completed and construction has started on the impressive 135-foot catamaran megayacht. The twin-hull design gives the RFF135 a wide beam and unrivaled stability without displacing as much water as a conventional design, while providing a massive 472 square meters of interior floorspace and 208 square meters of deck space, more than enough to accommodate 10 guests and 10 crew. Twin MTU V16 turbodiesel engines each produce an unfathomable 4600 horsepower, enough to keep the vessel at a theoretical 35-knot top speed and making it the most powerful vehicle of any kind Porsche has ever designed. Feast your eyes on the gallery of images below for all the angles.

There's only a handful of countries known for building cars. Most of them are in Europe or the Far East. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi wants to add Libya to that list, and this is what he's cooked up to do it. Called the Libyan Rocket, the car was designed to solve the problem of high instance of road deaths in the north African country. Gaddafi's people say it's the safest car ever made, but don't go into any details to back up the claim. Still, the Colonel's revolutionary government is building a plant in Tripoli to put it together. We've heard of stranger things, but not many.

This is the KTM X-Bow. It's perhaps one of the most fantastic track toys ever devised. Sure, you can drive it on the street. And some owners do. But one look at this mean machine is all you need to realize this isn't a suitable replacement for your luxury sedan. What it is, however, is a load of fun. It's made by Austrian motorcycle company KTM, known especially for their dirt bikes, and powered by a 237hp turbocharged Audi engines, which may not seem like a lot, but considering that the whole vehicle weighs just 1500 lbs, the power to weight ratio is astronomical.

The X-Bow (think "crossbow") generated so much public interest upon its debut last year that KTM felt it had to increase production to meet perceived demand. So initial projections for 500 units a year were doubled to 1000. But then the economy took a nose-dive. So far this year, KTM has already built 500 units, but most of them are sitting at the factory waiting for buyers. Only 80 have been sold so far this year, a far cry from the 2000 orders the company reportedly received when the vehicle was launched, prompting the company to shut down production at its new purpose-built factory in Graz, Austria, until they can sell the ones they've got on hand. Which probably means that there's so attractive pricing on its way for those who can pony up the £37,000 the carbon-fiber concoction commands in the British market.