• The car is more than just a form of transportation. We believe it can also exude beauty, style, and emotion like a piece of art.
• Earlier this year, we released an updated list of the most beautiful cars money can buy.
• Now we have created a spin-off of the most beautiful cars that either debuted or have been road tested by Business Insider in 2017.

At Business Insider, we are firm believers in the idea that cars are more than just a means to get goods and people from point A to point B. Cars can also be rolling pieces of art.

Earlier this year, we updated our list of the 10 most beautiful cars money can buy. Now we are doing a spin-off of that list just for 2017.

While we recognize that beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, here is a collection of the most aesthetically pleasing production cars that either debuted or have been road tested by Business Insider over the past year.

Here's a closer look at the 10 most beautiful cars of 2017 on sale at dealerships today.

SEE ALSO: Here are the 21 best cars for winter weather driving

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10. Porsche Panamera: Once the ugly duckling of the Porsche lineup, the second-generation Panamera is now the belle of the ball.

The new Panamera features a redesigned rear end with a sleeker fastback roofline, a move that fixed the previous car's awkward proportions. We liked the Panamera so much that it was named Business Insider's 2017 Car of the Year.

9. McLaren 720S. The first of McLaren's second-generation supercars debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

• Lamborghini showed off its new Urus "super sport utility vehicle" to media at the Detroit auto show.
• Designer Mitja Borkert also showed off an interesting design technique.
• The Urus is Lambo's bid to get in on the high-end ute game.

Lamborghini revealed its new Urus SUV to the US media in Detroit on Monday night, after earlier showcasing it in Europe.

The Urus is the culmination of a major trend, kicked off by Porsche over a decade ago with the Cayenne and more recently pushed forward by Maserati, Alfa Romero, Jaguar, and Bentley (and soon, Rolls-Royce): the luxury SUV from brands that we might have once though would never do an SUV.

Ferrari is essentially now the only big-name performance automaker to lack a ute — and that's going to change in the next few years, as CEO Sergio Marchionne again stressed in a press conference in Detroit.

Lamborghini actually built an SUV-ish vehicle once before, the LM002, a Hummer-like offroader than was produced for about seven years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's now regarded as an oddity, and in truth it doesn't look all that much like a Lamborghini.

The Urus, meanwhile, absolutely does. In an interview with Business Insider, designer Mitja Borkert (he joined Lambo in 2016, after working for Porsche) said that the Urus was shaped to evoke the sharklike, aggressive, make-no-mistake-about-it presence of Lamborghinis such as the iconic Countach and the current Aventador.

In fact, here's an image of Borkert drawing the profile of the new SUV. 

Except that he isn't "drawing," in the conventional sense of using a marker or pen to create his lines. If you look closely, you can see a small bit of black tape dangling beneath his right elbow.

That's because he's making a "tape drawing" of the Urus, to a reduced scale. I first saw budding car designers do this at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, the Harvard or Oxford of automotive imagination. (I also watched Borkert draw the old-fashioned way, with a pencil and paper, while I was chatting with him).

Tape drawings allow designers to replicate their designs at scale and engage with them physically, rather than simply outputting big digital renderings and sticking to a wall. Tape also enables the designer to be more precise at scale than he or she could be if trying to replicate a drawing.

And tape connects with another unusual car-design practice: clay models. Remarkably, in an era when pretty much anything can be designed digitally, car folks still create sculpted clay models of new vehicles, right up to full-size examples. They use tape to characterize — and refine — the lines. 

It's always amazing to me when I see a car designer using these old, tried-and-true techniques, even when I know that they can make full use of the digital tools available to them.

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• Lamborghini Dubai is the Italian supercar maker's largest dealership.
• The 30,000 square foot facility opened in April 2017.
• The three-story build showroom is designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott.
  

Dubai is world famous for its sizable population of supercars. Even the Dubai Police operates a fleet of high-priced exotics for promotional purposes. So it's only reasonable that Lamborghini would establish its largest dealership in the United Arab Emirates.

Opened in April 2017, Lamborghini Dubai features 30,000 square feet of showroom and shop space inside a stylish three-story building designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott. The structure features a glass facade connected to the building with steel cables.

Lamborghini Dubai is owned and operated by Al Jaziri Motors.

Recently, Business Insider had the chance to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility.

SEE ALSO: Inside the $350 million Emirates complex designed to fix the Airbus A380 superjumbo

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Lamborghini Dubai is located on the emirate's main thoroughfare Sheikh Zayed Road not far from the Mall of the Emirates.

Step inside the glass doors and you'll find yourself in the main showroom.

Here's a row of Lambos in the showroom. Two Aventadors and one Huracan.

• Startups raised over $5 billion issuing their own digital currencies last year and there are now over 1,400 in circulation.
• "In 2018 what’s going to happen is some consolidation of the market," cofounder of cryptocurrency IOTA tells BI.
• "I think there will be a shake-out of these ICOs," private equity veteran and cryptocurrency enthusiast Doug Barrowman says.

LONDON — Cryptocurrency market participants are predicting a fall in the number of digital currencies in circulation this year as the projects behind them fail to gain traction or consolidate.

2017 saw a boom in so-called "initial coin offerings" (ICOs), where startups issue their own digital currencies — structured like bitcoin — in exchange for real money to build their businesses. Startups raised over $5 billion through ICOs last year and there are now over 1,400 cryptocurrencies in circulation. These coins can be traded on online exchanges, unlike equity in early stage, private businesses.

Regulators around the world have warned that these investments are highly speculative and investors risk losing all their money. China and South Korea have banned ICOs, while executives from the World Bank and the ECB have compared the crypto market to Ponzi schemes.

Surprisingly, even cryptocurrency market participants are skeptical of many of recent ICOs.

"The market environment that we’re in right now is just everyone wants to get a Lamborghini," Dominik Schiener told Business Insider. "They’re primarily focused on making money real quick."

Schiener is the cofounder of IOTA, a cryptocurrency aimed at being the currency of the internet of things. IOTA created a cryptocurrency back in 2015 — practically ancient history in the cryptocurrency world. MIOTA, the currency, is now the 11th biggest cryptocurrency by value.

"In my opinion, in 2018 what’s going to happen is some consolidation of the market," he said. "Projects that don’t really add any concrete value or have a unique selling point will definitely fall out."

Bitconnect, the company behind a controversial cryptocurrency lending and exchange platform, closed its doors last month after an ICO in 2016. It could be perhaps the first example of what is to come for the market.

Doug Barrowman, a private equity veteran who got involved in the cryptocurrency world two years ago, told BI: "I think there will be a shake-out of these ICOs, of the 1,400 or so that have been done."

He believes the market has been over inflated by unskeptical investors simply hoping to make short-term gains speculating on coins, rather than backing long-term projects.

"No one is actually looking and saying, is the ICO any good? Speculators are just trading altcoins," Barrowman, who is conducting his own ICO, said.

"A lot of global crypto investors, they don’t even care what the ICO is. The white paper comes out, it’s been thought about for five minutes, and then everyone plays the same game — they pump it high, they dump it, they buy back when its dumped, then they pump it again on some more news."

Business Insider highlighted the prevalence of "pump and dump" scams in cryptocurrency secondary markets last year.

Scheiner said: "Market manipulation has really hurt IOTA since the beginning. All you have to do is spread a lie and have your Twitter and Reddit trolls and bots go lie. Then it quickly changes the public perception and then the market just crashes. Then you issue a correction and say hey that’s not true. That’s how those people make money."

Dom Williams, the lead developer of the DFINITY, told BI: "The Ethereum ICO was very successful but it brought in a lot of bad actors. I think most of them have got zero chance of delivering what they’ve been promising."

Williams has been working on the DFINITY network, a crypto-based cloud 3.0, since 2014, when Ethereum held its ICO. DFINITY recently raised $61 million from venture capitalists and Williams told BI they didn't do an ICO because they worried about "being guilty by association."

US regulators have moved to shut down $600 million ICO scam last month and another scam replaced its website with just the word "penis" after trying to raise money through an ICO. Thankfully, it only raised $11.

Charlie Lee, the founder of litecoin, told Business Insider recently: "I think there's a bit too much scam in the space, in terms of people getting in just to get rich quick."

Schiener said: "I’ve only participated in two ICOs in my life — Ethereum and IOTA."

His relative conservatism matches that of the founder of Chinese bitcoin exchange BTCC, who told Business Insider last month he "wouldn't touch" ICOs.

"I don’t know if we’re going to be 250 successful ICOs out of 1,400 or what," Barrowman said. "There’s going to be a shake-out, there’s no doubt about it.

"Ultimately after the euphoria of this ICO boom, people are going to say, what does that ICO actually bring to the world?"

Schiener's prediction is even more drastic: "I personally think only some 5 to 8 projects will be able to establish themselves and continue to raise. Most of the projects serve no concrete purpose in my opinion."

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• The Geneva Motor Show is the first major European car show of 2018.
• It will be packed with the latest offerings from Audi, Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Volvo, and VW.
• The show is open to the public from March 8 to the 18 at the Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 2018 Geneva Motor Show is the first major European car show of the year. Usually, Geneva is a big to do. Car makers pull out all the stops to show off their latest and greatest.

Aston Martin CEO Dr. Andy Palmer offered up a spot on description of the show when he said, "Geneva is a highlight of the industry calendar and a motor show with a rich history and great atmosphere."

And what rich atmosphere it is.

The world's top brands will be there. From Ferrari to McLaren and Aston Martin to Bentley, Geneva will be packed with the next generation of exotics. In addition, there will be a host of production-ready models from mass-market luxury brands, such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and BMW.

The 2018 Geneva Motor Show opens to the public until 18 at the Palexpo Arena in Geneva, Switzerland.

Here's a closer look at the 35 coolest cars at the show:

SEE ALSO: We drove a $95,000 Porsche Cayman to see if the sports car lives up to the hype — here's the verdict

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Geneva will mark the auto show debut of Aston Martin's new Vantage sports car.

Dr. Andy Palmer wasn't kidding when he said he had a big surprises in store for everyone. In fact, he had a couple. The first one was the debut of the 1,100 horsepower Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro track-only hypercar.

And then Aston Martin unveiled the futuristic Lagonda Vision Concept electric car.

• Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrency) millionaires are buying Lamborghinis as the ultimate status symbol in their community.
• People who made riches in bitcoin and ether have bought the Italian supercar for as little as $135, because they invested in crypto before its value spiked.
• At the same time, Lamborghini reported record sales in 2017.

Silicon Valley may be flush with cash, but its monarchs often don't like to flaunt their wealth. The culture encourages tech's casual billionaires (or mere millionaires) to stay humble, spend on sneakers and hoodies instead of parties, and focus on the work more than the spoils.

So far, cryptocurrency millionaires have been the exception.

People who made their riches in bitcoin and ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value, are buying Lamborghinis as the ultimate status symbol in their community.

The sexy Italian sports car has become an internet meme: When a new coin promises to make buyers a lot of money, someone might ask, "When's Lambo?" on social media. They want to know how long it will be until the holder can afford the supercar, which starts at $200,000.

Peter Saddington, a 35-year-old coder living in Atlanta, paid 45 bitcoins to ride off in a 2015 Lamborghini Huracan (price tag: $200,000) last fall, at the height of the crypto craze. Those coins cost less than $3 a piece when Saddington bought the digital currency back in 2011.

"Buying the Lambo with bitcoin is proof it can be used for real transactions, buying really cool stuff," Saddington told Yahoo Finance in 2017. "It's not only used by criminals."

The car was used, and Saddington paid the seller directly in bitcoin. He paid the dealership a transaction fee of $7.95 and the sales tax in cash, according to Yahoo Finance and CNBC.

In 2015, realtor Piper Moretti, whose company The Crypto Realty Group specializes in helping people buy homes with crypto, saw one of her first crypto-clients buy a Lambo with bitcoin.

A family from the East Coast fell in love with a $3.2 million home on Manhattan Beach. Her client, who asked not to be named, wanted to pay in bitcoin. But the seller's agent was dead-set against it. Moretti said they had to find a way to show they weren't trying to scam the seller.

Around that time, the price of bitcoin spiked, and Moretti's client decided to spend some of the extra money on a Lambo from an Orange County dealership that accepts bitcoin as payment.

Moretti told her client to "send me everything you have on this," including all the receipts and documents from the transaction, which she then provided to the seller's agent.

"The Lambo actually helped us get the house," Moretti told Business Insider.

Cryptocurrency is "not just internet-nerd money," she added. "You can actually buy things."

Lamborghini sales are on fire

Still, buying a Lamborghini may be "the single acceptable way to spend money" in the cryptocurrency community, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has blasted crypto investors in the past for flaunting their new wealth.

"If all that we accomplish is lambo memes and immature puns about 'sharting,' then I WILL leave," Buterin said in a Twitter rant in December.

An illustration of Buterin, dressed as a religious icon and holding a red Lamborghini Aventador between his outstretched palms, went viral on Reddit in 2017 and has been widely shared since.

We don't know how many crypto millionaires have been minted or how many bought the car. But a recent article in Quartz points out that as the price of ether rises, so do Lamborghini sales.

The luxury automobile maker delivered a record 3,815 vehicles to customers in 2017. It was the seventh consecutive year of sales growth, according to Lamborghini.

A general manager at Lamborghini Newport Beach in Costa Mesa, California, told CNBC that the dealership had "over 10 transactions" involving cryptocurrency in December, when bitcoin reached $19,000 per coin. That's up from about two transactions a month between 2013 and 2016. 

Crypto millionaires aren't necessarily responsible for the uptick in Lamborghini sales. A relatively small number of people are invested in cryptocurrencies, and many fewer bought in before the price of bitcoin and ether spiked in 2017 — making some holders enough money to buy a sports car.

Plus, Lamborghini rolled out new car models, the Huracan Performante and the Aventador S, in 2017. Both proved to be monster hits, which explains the carmaker's sales bump.

Fans of crypto and Lamborghini can calculate when their crypto investment will create enough gains for them to buy the supercar on a parody website called When-Lambo.com.

A disclaimer on the website says: "The results of the calculation," which is based on the coin's value over the last seven days, "are completely fictional."

SEE ALSO: Lamborghini is the world's craziest supercar maker — here's how it came to be

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• Conceptual artist and photographer Kevin Abosch recently sold a blockchain-inspired artwork called "YELLOW LAMBO" for $400,000.
• The artwork is inspired by the hashtag #lambo, which is often used in cryptocurrency forums online. 

Kevin Abosch's technology-inspired artwork and photography challenge the traditional perceptions of value.

In 2016, Abosch sold a photograph of a potato for more than $1 million.

In February, a group of 10 collectors purchased his virtual artwork "Forever Rose" for $1 million in cryptocurrency.

And just last week, Abosch sold another digitally-inspired artwork called "YELLOW LAMBO" to former Skype COO Michael Jackson at the San Francisco art fair "If so, What" for $400,000 — more than the starting price of an actual Lamborghini.

The artwork is composed of 42 inline alphanumerics in yellow neon representing the blockchain contract address for a crypto token called YLAMBO, which Abosch also created. Abosch named the artwork after the hashtag #lambo, which cryptocurrency enthusiasts often use in online forums. 

"When I first became aware of the use of #lambo on social media, it struck me as vulgar," Abosch told Business Insider. "But the more I thought about it, I realized that it's actually just a declaration acknowledging the insanity around the crypto zeitgeist."

The coveted Italian luxury car is a prized commodity in the cryptocurrency community, and in recent years, it's become a symbol for easy, cryptocurrency-acquired affluence. It's the Lamborghini's symbolic trappings that inspired Abosch to create a conceptual artwork which he describes as a meditation on value. 

"Depending on who you speak to, one person might ask, 'Why would someone spend $400,000 on bitcoin?' Another person might ask, 'Why would someone spend $400,000 on a car or a piece of artwork?'" said Abosch. "It's a cause for discussion on why and how we value anything at all."

After Abosch sold his blockchain artwork "Forever Rose" earlier this year for what is thought to be the largest sum ever paid for a piece of virtual art ("Forever Rose" is an ethereum-based token called ROSE that's inspired by a photograph Abosch took of an actual rose), Absoch said he received several confused inquiries regarding the nature of the piece. 

"There is no physical or visual manifestation of the work," said Abosch. "Someone asked me, 'How is it possible that something that you can't see or touch can have value?" Abosch's answer: "I have to wonder whether or not people who ask this question have an unhealthy relationship with material things."

In May, Abosch will present another blockchain-inspired artwork at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

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• Lamborghinis were spotted parked outside New York's blockchain conference Consensus this week.
• Cryptocurrency enthusiasts and others have long revered the Lamborghini as an aspirational symbol of wealth.
• But it turns out that the Lamborghinis in question didn't actually belong to any of the attendees: They were staged rentals.

Lamborghinis have long been an aspirational symbol within the cryptocurrency community. So it made sense that several of the coveted Italian sports cars would make an appearance this week outside Consensus, New York's massive blockchain conference.

Onlookers first posted photos to Twitter of three gleaming Lamborghinis parked outside the Hilton Midtown Hotel in Manhattan early Monday morning.

But, as it turned out, the cars don't actually belong to any of the attendees.

Bloomberg reported the cars had been rented by the cryptocurrency exchange BitMex, and it's speculated that the company paid $1,000 apiece for the flashy stunts.

The staged Lambos weren't the only part of Consensus that was fake, either. A group of bankers protesting cryptocurrencies also turned out to be a marketing stunt for a mining company.

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• Elizabeth White made a business out of trading in cryptocurrency holders' digital wealth in for luxury items like Lamborghinis, designer fashion, and yachts.
• Now, she's launching her own cryptocurrency, a "stable token" called the "White Standard."

For many in the cryptocurrency community, the hashtag #whenlambo signifies the Lamborghini as the embodiment of the aspirational wealth they someday hope to possess.

But for Elizabeth White, #whenlambo conveys a personal challenge.

When the hashtag started trending in cryptocurrency forums last year, White says she thought to herself, "You know what, I can get these people a Lambo."

Affluence may abound in the cryptocurrency community, but it isn't always easy to transform digital wealth in for real-world assets. Punishing transactional fees, low daily exchange limits on trading platforms, and wildly fluctuating values can make trading digital currencies in for fiat a difficult endeavor.

White, who has long worked in the racecar industry, decided to leverage her connections to hedge funds and luxury car dealerships to provide cryptocurrency holders access to the Italian supercar of their dreams. 

"There's so much new wealth in the cryptocurrency community," says White. "Cars seem to be a big seller because it establishes you as a cryptocurrency holder."

Typically, White's initial exchanges take place over the secure messaging app Telegram. White says she can facilitate a deal for a luxury car in exchange for cryptocurrencies in a matter of days. 

"We had a very large sale to a buyer in China from a seller in California for a $4 million car," says White. "The negotiation was very quick. It took less than a week and the settlement took about 30 minutes."

White says her company, suitably called "the White Company," can handle such fast-paced deals in a mix of fiat and digital currencies because of the liquidity of the hedge fund, Apis Capital Management, with which she works. 

"We're able to quickly convert someone's holdings at any moment," says White. "I can take these large amounts of money and purchase the items for my client, and then re-ingest their cryptocurrencies back into the fund." 

Among the transactions she's handled are deals for Super Bowl suites, yachts, honeymoons, luxury fashion items, and engagement rings. 

The ability to cash in digital assets for real-world goods is an important and validating function for cryptocurrencies, says White. 

"It all goes back to offering cryptocurrency holders something they need," she says. "They need the ability to purchase something in the real world with their digital wealth."

White's experience cashing in cryptocurrency assets for tangible goods has inspired her in an entirely new direction. Now, along with her finance partner Edgar Radjabli, she's launching her own cryptocurrency called "the White Standard" that she hopes will someday be used to handle the majority of online transactions.

Unlike ether and bitcoin, which have both been historically traded as a method of speculation, the "White Standard" is a "stable coin"— a digital token with the chief goal of serving as a means of digital commerce. White says that each White Standard, which are built on the blockchain application Stellar, will be backed by an American dollar, ensuring that the coins maintain a real-world value. 

"As they gain adoption, White Standards will be trade-able on other exchanges," says White's finance partner, Edgar Radjabli. "You'll always be able to trade ether and bitcoin in and out of the White Standard." 

Radjabli said that both he and White started considering the possibility of their own dollar-backed digital currency when rumors began swirling that Tether, another dollar-backed stable token, wasn't accurately representing the fiat backing for their coins.

The White Standard, which will be backed by Radjabli's hedge fund, plans on building a foundation of payment networks for cryptocurrency trade worldwide.

"We want to build a coin that will let you instantly buy a cup of coffee or a Lambo with cryptocurrencies anywhere in the world," says Radjabli. 

SEE ALSO: A 21-year-old college student invested 80% of his summer paycheck in cryptocurrencies and made an enormous profit

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• The Chinese smartphone maker Oppo launched its new Find X phone on Tuesday, along with the Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition.
• Oppo says the Find X Lamborghini edition can charge from 0% to 100% in 35 minutes and will cost nearly $2,000.
• Both versions of the Find X have a nearly edge-to-edge display, a motorized hidden camera, and facial recognition. 

The Chinese smartphone maker Oppo just announced one of the priciest phones you can buy.

At an event in the Louvre Museum in Paris on Tuesday, Oppo announced its new Find X device, a premium smartphone with a nearly edge-to-edge display, a motorized hidden camera, and a beautiful shiny finish.

On its own, the Find X is an expensive device — Oppo said it would cost €999 (about $1,160) when it's released in August.

But there's another, pricier device on the way. At the event, Oppo also unveiled the Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition, which has superfast charging; Oppo says it can charge a battery from 0% to 100% in 35 minutes.

The Lamborghini edition will cost €1,699, which is about $1,970.

The phone will also have 512 GB of storage, a carbon-fiber texture underneath the glass on the back of the device, and an engraved Lamborghini logo.

Otherwise, the Lamborghini edition will have specs similar to the standard Find X device, including facial recognition, a 25-megapixel selfie camera, and a screen that covers more than 93% of the front of the phone.

Oppo is launching the Find X in Europe this August, but there's no word yet on when the device could come to the US. 

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Classic Car Club Manhattan is a private club with a fleet of over 40 classics, exotics, and supercars. All of the cars are available for members to drive. They also have a members-only restaurant and a racing simulator. The following is a transcript of the video.

This club was made for car enthusiasts.

Aj Caldwell: Oh, my gosh. This is so sick!

Mike Prichinello: Classic Car Club is a private automotive club. Members join, they can drive our cars. They can just hang out.

The club has a fleet of over 40 cars. All available for members to drive.

Mike: My name is Mike Prichinello. I am director of Classic Car Club Manhattan. This is our 8,000-square-foot gallery space. This is where we keep most of our cars. This is our mechanic shop. So, this is where the team keeps everything running smoothly. We have the most advanced simulator room in the country. It's where we do all of our racing and competition.

Classic Car Club hosts a number of events. From racing abroad to gatherings at the clubhouse.

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• The new Lamborghini Aventador SVJ supercar made its debut on Thursday in Monterey, California. 
• The SVJ is the latest update to Lamborghini's flagship Aventador.
• It's powered by a 770 horsepower, naturally aspirated V12 and boasts a top speed of more than 217 mph.
• The most significant updates to the Aventador is the addition of Lambo's ALA 2.0 active aerodynamic system.
• The Aventador SVJ retails for $517,770 in the US.

Lamborghini's flagship Aventador supercar has been around since 2011. Since then, the Italian supercar maker has been steadily improving the big V12 bruiser while burnishing its reputation as a track weapon. 

On Thursday, Lamborghini introduced the latest version of supercar dubbed the Aventador SVJ in Monterey, California.

The Aventador SVJ follows in the footsteps of 2015's Aventador SV and last year's Aventador S. SVJ, in case you're wondering, stands for Superveloce Jota. Superveloce means "superfast" in Italian, while Jota is a designation used for Lambos geared towards track performance.

"The Aventador SVJ is an innovative car and represents the absolute pinnacle of our super sports car product range," Automobili Lamborghini CEO, Stefano Domenicali said in a statement.

Lurking behind the driver is a 770 horsepower, naturally aspirated, V12 engine, the most powerful production V12 in company history. It's hooked up to both a four-wheel-drive and a four-wheel-steering system. 

According to Lambo, the sprint from 0-62 mph happens in just 2.8 seconds with a top speed of more than 217 mph. 

But the big story with the Aventador SVJ is the addition of Lamborghini's new ALA 2.0 active aerodynamics system. It's an improved version of the ALA system that debuted on Lambo's record-setting Huracan Performante last year. The system uses a series of active flaps and air ducts to control downforce. 

Lamborghini will make just 900 Aventador SVJs during its production run. 

The company will also produce 63 special edition Aventador SVJ 63s in honor of Lambo's founding in 1963.   

The price of all of this awesomeness is not cheap, $517,770 in the US.

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• The Lamborghini Huracán Performante is the high-performance trim level of the already high-performing regular Huracán.
• The Lamborghini Huracán Performante has about 30 more horsepower than the lesser Huracán.
• We drove a $320,785 Huracán Performante and were extremely impressed — although we couldn't take this supercar to the track, its natural home.

A funny thing has been going on with Lamborghini. When I was growing up, the Italian legend's supercars were considered wilder and crazier, cruder and more tasteless, than Ferraris. If you liked Lambos, you kind of knew what you wanted to be when you grew up, and it wasn't necessarily civilized.

Since the late 1990s, however, Lamborghini has been owned by the VW Group and allied with Audi. This structure has tempered some of the old Lambo stuff, beneficially making the brand more dignified, easy to live with, and more technologically up-to-date.

That sounds great, but what about, you know, the Lambo-ness? Well, we've seen the benefits played out in the Huracán lineup. Lamborghini sells three cars: the Huracán sports car-supercar, the Aventador super-hypercar, and the new Urus SUV. The Huracán is meant to provide a little something for everybody who wants to get into the brand.

Hence an all-wheel-drive version that can be mistaken for an Audi, a rear-wheel-drive version that can't — and that remind Lambo lovers of the Lambos of the 1970s and 1980s — and a drop-top Spyder for open-air motoring, and now a track-oriented car, the Performante.

Yes, it looks like a race car. But it can be taken on the road. And then to the track. And back to the road. It's for that type of well-heeled enthusiast who wants to test their driving skills, as well as tool around and stun the neighbors. 

Lamborghini let us borrow a 2018 Huracán Performante for a few days. Here's what we thought.

Photos by Hollis Johnson.

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Behold! The shark-like Lamborghini Huracán Performante, in a dashing "Rosso Mars" paint job. Our tester was the all-wheel-drive version.

The Lamborghini Huracán Performante is the "regular" Huracán turned up a few notches.

The ferocious architecture of the Huracán remains: this is a classic mid-engine supercar. Unlike Lambos of old, the Huracán has gone for a more stately, dignified vibe. In as much as that's possible for the snarling bull.

• Each year Business Insider selects 15 finalists for its Car of the Year competition.
• The cars are chosen from the more than five dozen we road tested during the year.
• The vehicles range from family SUVs and sedans to supercars and electric vehicles.
• Brands represented this year are Audi, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Honda, Jaguar, Kia, Lamborghini, Lexus, Lincoln, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, and Volvo.
• One of the 15 will be named Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year.

Autumn has arrived, and with it the fifth installment of Business Insider's Car of the Year award.

In 2014 the Corvette Stingray was our winner. In 2015 it was the Volvo XC90. In 2016 the Acura NSX captured the trophy. And for 2017 we chose the Porsche Panamera. As with 2016 and 2017, we stuck with our lineup of 15 finalists for this year.

Our esteemed finalists are the vehicles — from sedans to supercars to SUVs — that impressed us most. They're the best of the best and were selected after a year of test-driving and reviewing more than 60 cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and sports cars.

To be eligible, a model must be new or have been substantially updated within the past year, and it must have been road tested by at least two members of the Business Insider team.

In 2018, senior correspondent Matt DeBord and senior reporter Ben Zhang shared the majority of reviewing duties, with news editor Bryan Logan lending a hand on the West Coast. Images were contributed by Hollis Johnson, Business Insider's photo editor, and Jessica Tyler, our visual-features reporter.

Our methodology is straightforward, focused on basic questions:

• Is there a strong business case for the vehicle?
• Did our reviewers agree that the vehicle should be included? We have to come to a consensus, even though we might disagree on some particulars.
• Was the vehicle objectively excellent? There has to be some sort of wow! factor.
• Did the vehicle stand out from the sea of competition, particularly when it comes to technology? A Car of the Year finalist has to be special.
• Can we strongly recommend buying or leasing the car? We demand to know whether we'd buy the vehicle ourselves if we had the resources.

We'll announce the 2018 Car of the Year on November 19 and prepare you for the big event by revealing our five runners-up the week before. We'll also reveal who won Infotainment System of the Year and Audio System of the Year.

So here they are, the 15 finalists for Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year:

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2019 Aston Martin DB11 Volante

Engine tested: 4.0-liter, twin-turbo, 503-horsepower V8

Base price: $219,000

Why it's here: The Volante followed our experience with the Coupé, a Car of the Year finalist in 2017.

The Volante lacked the Coupé's V12 engine, but it didn't disappoint.

DeBord wrote in his review:

"The DB11 Volante doesn't feel lighter or friskier than the Coupé — it has that same extremely purposeful vibe, supremely confident going fast in a straight line accompanied by a throaty roar of combustion through the dual exhaust pipes, supremely confident diving into corners, supremely confident racing away from semis on the highway, supremely confident just cruising through the New Jersey suburbs (well, as supremely confident as a car can be in that environment)."

Oh, and the Aston Martin DB11 Volante is absolutely gorgeous.

2018 Audi RS3

Engine tested: 2.5-liter, 400-horsepower, turbocharged five-cylinder

Base price: $54,900

Why it's here:"The Audi RS3 is simply astounding," Zhang wrote in his review of the 2018 Audi RS3 2.5T quattro S tronic.

"It's brilliant not just as a performance machine, but also as a compact luxury sedan. It's both a predatory animal lurking in the tall grasses, ready to pounce at a moment's notice, and a warm, comforting friend."

Zhang's verdict was clear: "We were blown away by the S3's style, comfort, and performance back in 2015. With the RS3, Audi and Audi Sport have simply taken things to the next level."

2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast

Engine tested: 6.5-liter, 789-horsepower V12

Base price: $335,000

Why it's here: In his review of the 812 Superfast, DeBord had this to say about his new favorite Ferrari:

"At the legal speed limit in the 812 Superfast, you've barely roused the beast. On the freeway, you can finesse the throttle to dance the 6.5-liter under the hood — a bump in displacement from the F12's 6.3-liter — enjoying the snarls and growls, or you can shift gears yourself, using the elegant carbon-fiber paddles behind the steering wheel, and feel the snaps and jerks, the kicks to your spine and sternum, as you deploy the G-forces."

For what it's worth, this glorious machine was also Business Insider's first yellow Ferrari, and at an as-tested price of $474,000, it was one of the most expensive vehicles we've ever reviewed.

• Auto sales in the US are once again expected to top 17 million vehicles in 2018.
• SUVs remain the most popular genre of vehicle and account for more than 46% of all sales. 
• In 2019, there will be series of highly anticipated new models reaching the market from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Lincoln, Land Rover, Porsche, Audi,Ford, Hyundai, Volvo, Tesla, and Volkswagen. 

It's been a great year for the automotive industry. Sales in the US are once again expected to top 17 million cars. SUVs remain all the rage. According to data compiled by Kelley Blue Book, US consumers have purchased or leased more than 7.2 million crossovers and SUVs over the first 11 months of the year.

That represents more than 46% of all passenger vehicles sold in the US.

The single largest segment of the market, even larger than full-size pickups, is the compact crossover/SUV with nearly 2.9 million units sold so far this year. 

Read more: We drove a $211,000 Porsche Panamera to see if it's a hybrid supercar with room for the whole family. Here's the verdict.

Aside from the sales figures, there have also been some outstanding individual performers. For example, the Kia Stinger surprised us all and nabbed Business Insider's Car of the Year Award. The Stinger's eye-catching looks, powerful engine, and expertly-tuned suspension proved to the world that South Korea can, indeed build a world-class sports sedan. 

On the electric front, Jaguar became the first traditional carmaker to launch a luxury electric crossover SUV while Tesla's Model 3 finally ramped up to deliveries. 

As 2018 comes to an end, it's time to look forward to 2019. Here's a closer look at some of the hot new and revamped cars, trucks, and SUVs we can't wait to check out in the coming year.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best used cars you can buy to get the most bang for your buck

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Audi is doing a complete revamp of its large sedan lineup with the debut an all-new A6,...

... A7, and...

... A8.

• The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas features more than 4,400 exhibitors showcasing the very latest in gizmos, gadgets, and doodads.
• This year, more than 180,000 people are attending CES. 
• Some wacky technology has been on display thus far, including a Lamborghini-themed massage chair and cars with foldable legs. 

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the place where companies like LG, Samsung, and Sony show off their latest TVs, laptops, and other state-of-the-art high tech. 

But it's also the place where some of the weirdest and wildest gadgetry gets its time in the spotlight. 

Lamborghini-themed massage chairs, cars with foldable legs, and Roomba-like lawn mowers are just a few of the bizarre products seen thus far at the world's largest tech show. 

Read more:Here's all the major tech we're expecting at CES 2019, the biggest tech convention of the year

Things haven't quite escalated to the degree it hit last year, where a pole-dancing robot performed at a nearby gentleman's club. But you never know — CES doesn't end until Friday. 

Here are the 33 best and wackiest photos from CES 2019 thus far: 

LG unveils its futuristic Signature OLED TV that rolls-up with the press of a button.

These LG OLED TV screens were used to create a colorful light display for attendees.

The Bodyfriend LBF-750 is a Lamborghini-themed massage chair.

• The Geneva Motor Show is the first major European auto show of 2019. 
• The show will feature the latest offerings from Aston Martin, Bentley, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Polestar, VW, Subaru, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and Pininfarina. 
• As the trend in the industry goes, electric vehicles and hybrids will play a major role at the show.
• The show will be open to the public from March 7 to the 17 at the Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland with media days held on the 5th and 6th. 

The 2019 Geneva Motor Show is the first major European car show of the year. As a result, the world's automakers go big for Geneva. Car makers pull out all the stops to show off their latest and greatest. 

Read more: The CEO of Volvo's Tesla challenger explains why using Google tech allows his company to avoid the major mistake made by other brands.

In years past, Geneva has been known as the show where the next great supercars are shown for the first time. That tradition continues as it once again plays host to the latest from Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Pininfarina.

The show also features a host of more practical offerings from mainstream mass market and luxury brands including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Polestar, VW, Subaru, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda.

Read more: HondaJet's CEO explains why the $5.25 million private jet's nose is inspired by a pair of Ferragamo high heels.

The 2019 Geneva Motor Show will be open to the public from March 7-17 at the Palexpo Arena in Geneva, Switzerland. Media days will be held on March 5 and 6.

Here's a closer look at the 18 hot cars we can't wait to see:

SEE ALSO: Volvo's high-performance Polestar brand just unveiled Sweden's answer to the Tesla Model 3

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Geneva has long been known as the hottest show for supercars. That streak continues in 2019 where Ferrari will debut the new F8 Tributo. The F8 will be the replacement for the current 488 GTB.

Lamborghini will introduce the latest convertible version of its Huracan supercar dubbed the EVO Spyder.

Legendary Italian design house Pininfarina is also expected to unveil a hot new supercar called the Battista.

• The Geneva Motor Show is the first major European auto show of 2019. 
• The show features the latest offerings from Aston Martin, Bentley, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Polestar, VW, Subaru, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and Pininfarina. 
• As the trend in the industry goes, electric vehicles and hybrids will play a major role at the show.
• The show is held every year at the Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The 2019 Geneva Motor Show will be open to the public until March 17.

The 2019 Geneva Motor Show is the first major European car show of the year. As a result, the world's automakers go big for Geneva. Car makers pulled out all the stops to show off their latest and greatest. 

Read more: This $19 million custom Bugatti is now the most expensive new car ever sold.

In years past, Geneva has been known as the show where the next great supercars are shown for the first time. That tradition continues as it once again plays host to the latest from Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, and Pininfarina.

The show also features a host of more practical offerings from mainstream mass market and luxury brands including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Polestar, VW, Subaru, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda.

Less well know brands like Russia's new ultra-luxury brand Aurus are also featured at the show. 

Read more: Check out Vladimir Putin's new armored presidential limo that is Russia's answer to 'The Beast.'

The 2019 Geneva Motor Show will be open to the public until March 17 at the Palexpo Arena in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Here's a closer look at the 25 hot new cars at the Geneva Motor Show. 

SEE ALSO: Mazda just introduced a new small SUV that will take on rivals from Nissan, Honda, and Subaru

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1. Bugatti La Voiture Noire

2. Aston Martin AM-RB 003

3. Aston Martin Vanquish Vision

• Instagram users love to post photos of sports cars, but they're also enthusiastic about modestly-priced sedans, according to a study from the car insurance website Veygo.
• The study ranked the cars most frequently posted about on Instagram by counting posts that included either of the two most popular hashtags for each vehicle.
• The top 30 spots on the list include obvious candidates like the Lamborghini Aventador and Porsche 911, as well as more modestly-priced cars from mass-market automakers.

Instagram users love to post photos of sports cars, but they're also enthusiastic about modestly-priced sedans, according to a study from the car insurance website Veygo.

The study ranked the cars most frequently posted about on Instagram by counting posts that included either of the two most popular hashtags for each vehicle. Only cars that are currently in production were included in the list.

The top 30 spots on the list include obvious candidates like the Lamborghini Aventador and Porsche 911, as well as more modestly-priced cars from mass-market automakers.

These are the 30 most Instagrammed cars.

SEE ALSO: I drove a $48,000 Chevy Blazer to see if the all-new crossover SUV lives up to its flashy looks — here's the verdict

30. Audi TTS

Number of mentions: 1,033,764

29. Fiat 500

Number of mentions: 1,054,174

28. BMW i8

Number of mentions: 1,143,190

• Lamborghini made its first SUV since 1986 — the Urus.
• It's labeled as a "super"SUV.
• With supercar-like performance, we reviewed the Urus to see if it still holds up as a practical SUV.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Matt DeBord: Today, I am checking out the world's first super sport-utility vehicle, the Lamborghini Urus.

I'm Matt DeBord. I get behind the wheel of the hottest cars and test them in real-world scenarios. Today, I'm taking my kids for a ride in the Lamborghini Urus to see if it's kid-approved. Then, I'm heading to Ikea to see just how much cargo this SUV can handle. This is "Real Reviews" from Cars Insider.

There have been a lot of headlines over the course of the last year about the Lamborghini Urus because it's such an odd vehicle. A lot of reviewers have asked, "How much of a supercar can an SUV really be?" We're here to find out how much of an SUV this Lamborghini can be, and my first errand is gonna be taking my kids to school.

Dante DeBord: Today, I have a test.

Matt: You have a test today?

Dante: Yeah.

Matt: Wow! What do you guys think of the Lamborghini? Is it cool?

James DeBord: Pretty cool.

Matt: Is it pretty cool?

James: It's pretty dope!

Matt: Hey, let me ask a question, though. James: What? You guys have driven around in a couple of Lamborghinis at this point. How do you think this one compares to those other Lamborghinis? Do you think it sticks out?

Dante: Not good, it's not good.

James: More legroom.

Matt: Do you think that this is a real Lamborghini? Or is it just a great big yellow SUV that says Lamborghini?

Dante: It's a great big yellow SUV that says, Lamborghini.

Matt: Are you a little skeptical that it's a real Lamborghini?

Dante: I don't care even if it is a Lamborghini 'cause it doesn't even look good.

James: Dante, but it's basically the same. It's just slightly less fast, but more room and stuff.

Matt: Do you think the world needed a Lamborghini SUV, or is the world fine?

Dante: The world definitely didn't want a lot more pollution, so no. Matt: No? The world did not need a Lamborghini SUV.

Matt: You don't think so?

James: Harsh critic, harsh critic.

Matt: He is a harsh critic, isn't he? Well, here we are at school! OK guys, see you later, and have a great day at school!

James: Yeah, you too, Dad!

Matt: OK. I'm gonna work hard today. You guys learn some stuff, OK?

James: All righty.

Matt: Get educated! Education is the key to success.

Now that the kids are at school, it's time to head to Ikea. But first, let's talk performance.

The Urus has six driving modes on its Anima selector: Strata, for everyday driving, Sport, for peppier street driving, and Corsa, for the track. It's also got a few off-road modes: Sabbia, Terra, and Neve. It's not gonna behave like a Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover, but it could be a nice rally car. In addition to these settings, it also has Ego mode, which lets you customize the steering, suspension, and throttle response for your optimal driving experience. But what really sets the Urus apart is Corsa mode. Corsa mode lets you max out the 641 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque that the engine is putting out. That's gonna give you a zero to 60 time of about 3 1/2 seconds, and I think it's about time to put it to the test.

Here we are in fifth gear. We're gonna pass this Dodge in front of us, drop it down into third, gonna hang out in third for a second, listen to it up around 5,000 on the red line. We're gonna tip in the throttle and get ready to go up to fourth and then punch it through the fifth and see what it sounds like. So I'm just hanging here, and I'm gonna hammer it. Off we go, very quick. Very quick in Corsa mode. As far as the performance goes, I like Corsa mode in Lamborghinis because you do get the sound. I like the sound. You don't have to be going fast to make the car make crazy noises. You just have to shift the gears and let it do its thing. It really just kicks you. It kicks you hard. Does it kick you as hard as one of the supercars? Maybe not! Are you asking for an SUV to kick you as hard as a supercar? I don't think you're asking for an SUV to kick you as hard as a supercar. I don't think that's really what you want.

All right, so here we are. We'll park the car.

Can the super sports-utility vehicle handle some flat-pack stuff? Will it fit? Will it fit? What are the odds? What are the odds that it fits? Oh no! About 8 inches. The only thing we might be able to do is, well, we could try this. We remove this piece. I have removed this part of the Urus. OK, here's what we're gonna do. This will work. It's gonna work. It's gonna meet the challenge. We're gonna have to protect the leather, of course, with this towel that we luckily brought with us. All right. I'm gonna protect this part. Ta-da! This is fantastic! OK, now we just have to put these things back in. Let's see if it closes up. Success! Success!

Now that we know the Urus can handle a fair amount of cargo, let's talk more about the inside.

The interior of the Urus looks good. It's covered in premium materials. Lamborghini paid close attention to detail. Our test vehicle had the sports package complete with massively adjustable bucket seats that actually feel pretty comfortable even though they're well bolstered for performance driving, and the seats can be heated and cooled to your preference.

The infotainment system is pretty much ripped right out of an Audi, and it's quite intuitive to use. It has a two-screen setup. The top screen is used for navigation, managing media, navigating through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The bottom screen lets you control climate, and you can interact with some of the media settings down there as well. The touchscreen does take some getting used to. I found myself taking my eyes off the road a bit to make sure that I was pressing the right buttons.

And here's a little icing on the cake: The Lamborghini Urus has wireless charging and a Bang and Olufsen audio system that sounds absolutely incredible. Overall, the interior of the Lamborghini Urus feels ferociously sporty and exquisitely premium.

We set out to determine whether this Lamborghini Urus SUV could be a real Lamborghini, and you know what? It sure as heck is! We took this car to Ikea, and we were able to get a bunch of stuff in the back. Check, that's a great SUV! We were able to drive my kids to school, and they enjoyed the ride. We were able to take it out on the highway and go around at wonderful, exciting velocities and check out the speed and performance of this machine. We did all those things, and it's still every bit a Lamborghini!

I mean, you might be like I was at the beginning and say, "Ah, jeez, it's not a Huracán, it's not an Aventador. Come on, it's not a real Lamborghini. They just took an Audi SUV, and they turned it into a Lamborghini!" That is not the case at all, folks. Let me tell you. This thing is every bit of it a Lamborghini. I gotta hand it to Lamborghini. They've done an absolutely wonderful job with this piece of machinery.

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