Hello all! Just an average Monday at the Carster office in Santa Monica. After clocking out, I decided to take the scenic route home, only to discover an unreleased Audi R8 parked at the beach in all its shimmering glory - and me without my camera! Agh!

I quick zipped back to the office, nabbed the camera and stomped on the gas to get back to the beach, hoping beyond hope that the R8 was still parked overlooking the crashing waves.

As I screech in to where the R8 is parked, I get a nice shot of the back exterior, but being the inexperienced spy shooter that I am, I had the quaint notion of asking permission for more photos from the two men clambering in, clad in Audi S-Line black polo shirts. I receive a chorus of thickly accented "NO PHOTOS!" in reply.

Well, I never.

So I whip my car around the corner, park it in the first spot I can find, grab the camera and run across the street to see that the Audi R8 is backing out, waiting to enter traffic. I was a little out of sorts on the angle department, but determination is my strong suit and I still managed to grab some spectacular shots, thumbing my nose at the frowning German faces turned in my direction from the car's plush interior.

As for a little background on the vehicle - when the car debuted at its first auto shows over two years ago, it was a two-seater, mid-mounted 610 HP V-10 supercar. It's rumored that there haven't been many changes to that configuration for the production model. The Audi R8 is said to be released sometime in 2007, but no definite date has been set.

-RC1320 ( Phone: +1 206-299-2838 )