Includes a sneak peak of a prototype 2-litre mid-engined 4wd Yaris prototype, a new MR2 perhaps?

This 550-horsepower 1968 Porsche 912 is getting all of its power from an unexpected source: the electric motor from a Tesla Model S P85. It was made by two Southern California shops, Zelectric Motors and EV West, which convert old Volkswagens and Porsches into modernized electric cars. It’s a new way to rescue aging vintage cars — though not everyone is happy with the idea.

Get used to it people, this is only going to get more and more popular.

On April 16 the Porsche 911 GT3 RS set another benchmark for road-approved sports cars at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit in Germany: Porsche works race driver Kévin Estre set a lap time in 6:56.4 minutes with the 520-hp GT3 RS. The Frenchman’s lap time was 24 seconds faster than the best time achieved with the previous GT3 RS model. [...]

Regardless of its real-world importance or relevance, kudos to Porsche for continuing to blow minds with each generation and subsequent iteration of its sportscars.

Don't miss the short prologue video either.

Glorious for the fact that there is no music, no narration, nothing, except the pure natural sounds of this supercharged and turbocharged monster being relentlessly flung between the armco.

Offered at RM Sotherby's Paris event, 7 Feb 2018. Bidding estimate €2m-2.5m.

Both models feature a rare thing in today's crowded supercar market: manual gearboxes.

Chassis No. WP0ZZZ99ZSS390217. Currently listed on carsales.com.au, AU$730,000.

Formula 1 and governing body the FIA have laid out proposals for the next generation of F1 power units (PU), with improved noise, reduced cost, and a more level playing field among the key objectives.

More hybrid power using standard components and electronics, more revs, no MGUH, stricter turbo and fuel regs, tighter design paramaters.

A few new manufacturers have been waiting for these, I wonder if the strategy will work or has everyone already jumped across to Formula E?

This is a good option: a 1997 McLaren F1 in Dandelion Yellow that’s clocked just 239km (149mi) and still wears its factory-applied sheath of plastic over the Alcantara interior. This is as close to buying the car brand new from McLaren in the ‘90s as you’re going to get, and if you’re the kind of person who geeks out deeply over OEM accessories, prepare to have this car stuck in your head for a while.

As beautiful as it is, it's criminal that F1 #060 has not been driven and enjoyed.

The inital batch of 10 'Reborn' cars should set you back an entirely reasonable £285,000.

John Surtees, the only man to win world championships on two wheels and four, has passed away aged 83, his family has confirmed.

Truly one of a kind.

Vale John Surtees.

(Wikipedia)

via roadandtrack.com

The hairs on my neck are standing on end.

Sold! for an astounding £1,848,000.

Porsche prices have been kooky for a while now but this one is beyond kooky.

The recent London sales by RM Sotherby's featured a few other stand-out results for desirable Porsches: 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 got £716,800 and this 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight fetched and equally astonishing £974,400.

Us? We'd have taken home this (relative) bargain 993 RSCS over any of that lot for 'just' £403,200.

In Tokyo we meet Go Hiramatsu, a lawyer who uses his McLaren P1 for the daily commute - and also takes it into the mountain passes at the weekend.

My hero.

This amazing one owner, 109 kilometres from new, survivor has an even more incredible story to tell. One of only two cars delivered to Japan from new (the other example having been used for racing), the GTR was brought into the country in 1981 by Porsche importer 'Garage Italya'. In 1983, after being stored for 2 years, it was purchased by a Japanese businessman and classic car enthusiast who wanted to add it to his private collection.

The car was never used on the road but was enjoyed a handful of times on the track at Suzuka and the Fuji Speedway. On each occasion, our fastidious Japanese owner made a record of the distance travelled at each track day. According to his records, the car covered just 109 kilometres in the first 7 years of his ownership, after which the 924 was carefully stored in his two-storey garage, safely in the first-floor attic space accessible by a car lift. The GTR was removed from storage each year, taken on a trailer to be serviced, brought back, then placed back in position in the garage. From 1981 to 2006 the car was serviced by Porsche specialist 'Tomei Car Service', then latterly by Porsche specialist 'Garage Tool Box'. In the intervening period, the engine was started and run regularly.

Goes under the hammer at Silverstone Auctions upcoming 'Silverstone Classic Race Car Sale' on 28 Jul 2016. Bidding range estimate £475,000-575,000.

• E01: Project Kickoff Featuring Ken Block
• E02: Design and Development
• E03: Hitting the Road
• E04: Test-track Trials
• E05: Arctic Extremes
• E06: Power Struggle
• E07: Close Scrutiny
• E08: Final Chapter

Great to see this kind of behind the scenes action from Ford, especially for such an important car for the marque.

Tip: The above links point to each video 30s in, to skip the pre-roll. You're welcome.

As dream drives go, Lamborghini Aventador SV across the decrestricted mountain road on the Isle of Man at sunset is about as good as it gets. There's not a lot else to say really.

Put on your headphones and turn the volume up to 11.

Goodbye 2015. Accompany us on a journey through 2015 and see all our highlights on four wheels in this video.

A banner year: Le Mans triumph, an almost entirely refreshed product line, Australian sales up 45% for the year. How could 2016 possibly top this?

This history of the McLaren F1 explains how the McLaren Cars' team pursued their quest for perfection to create the fastest road car in the world - setting the record at 240.1mph in 1998. The book has been created with the full support and involvement of McLaren Cars.

Authors Doug Nye, Ron Dennis, and Gordon Murray provide a most intimate account of McLaren's immense effort to produce the F1, including never seen before design sketches, stories and interviews, patent applications, plus photos of early prototypes and models used during the F1's intense development program.

Available in hardcover via Amazon.

Official presser.

The 14th of only 19 DB4GTs built by Zagato, delivered new to Australia where it was successfully campaigned in the hands of Doug Whiteford, Ian Georghegan, and intrepid owner Laurie O'Neill. Originally white in colour, chassis 0186/R underwent a comprehensive restoration back in 2002.

To be auctioned by RM Sotherbys in New York on 10 Dec 2015. Bidding estimate listed as US$15,000,000 - $17,000,000.

Don't miss their earlier installment showcasing Tamiya's annual open house event.

From the outside it was a relatively anonymous temporary building, one of many that travel with the teams and organizers to the so-called flyaway races—events that take place outside of F1's traditional but endangered heartland of Europe, where the cars and equipment are trucked from track to base and back again. Instead, for the races in the Americas, Asia, and beyond, everything gets loaded into freight 747s. In luggage terms, the tech center alone is responsible for a single jumbo—130 tonnes of servers, networking hardware, cabling, and so on.

Nuts.

Brilliant.

via @sportautolive

BMW is developing a mid-engined supercar with a V8 engine – and is in talks with McLaren to put the car into production. CAR can reveal that the top secret flagship is scheduled for a Frankfurt show unveiling in exactly two years’ time, if talks with Britain’s supercar specialists are successfully concluded.

Last time these two got together, they made McLaren F1 babies. Good times ahead if this story holds any water.

Wes Ingram and his business partner, Herb Sanborn, collaborate on rebuilding and modifying mechanical injection pumps for vintage Alfa Romeos... We visited them in their Washington shop, Ingram Enterprises, because it's one of the only centers for such work. Also because SPICA injection—found on every U.S.-market Alfa from 1969 to 1981 is widely maligned. And thus a good way to illustrate the tech's darkness and light.

Loads more info on their website, Ingram Enterprises.

via @scarbsf1

Ettore Bugatti and his designer, the Belgian aero engineer Louis de Monge, set out to make the fastest, most aerodynamic and advanced racing aircraft in the skies in the 1930s – obviously as a Bugatti nothing less would do. It was designed to get close to 500mph, but on half the power of rivals. In planes as with cars, Bugatti’s way was innovative engineering over brute force every time.

Incredible.

More info...

I want people to look at a car and know that they're excited and not quite know why or how. What's important is the atmosphere... You don't see it. You feel it.

Just. Build. It.

via Road & Track

Piëch and his racing mechanics replaced front and rear deck lids, doors, front fenders, and both bumpers with duplicates in fiberglass-reinforced plastic, formed and assembled at Karl Baur works in Stuttgart. Wider rear wheels forced slight flares onto the bodywork. The hinges – doors and deck lids – were in aluminum. Because it was a racing car, engineers shaved windshield thickness to 4mm and side glass was thinned to 2mm. It’s safe to describe a 911R as “interior delete”, because Porsche’s racing shop pulled more content out than it left in. In fact, it was the job of one racing mechanic, Rolf Wütherich, to run a drill press, perforating every pedal, lever, handle, and panel with holes to lighten each by a gram at a time. By the time they finished, the cars weighed just 800 kilograms – 1,764 pounds.

Even the legendary 2.7 RS pales in comparison to the 911R, this is the early 911 to have. #017 is more special still, not only does it have a fully documented history, it is also fitted with a very special engine with a thick race-winning history file.

Currently offered by Road Scholars, $POA.

Looks like 2016 is going to be another banner year for the ever expanding category.

Returning after an absence of nearly 10 years, the new TVR has been designed by engineering guru Gordon Murray and will be powered by a unique, hugely powerful Cosworth V8 engine and backed by an ambitious and well-funded ownership team.

The iconic sports car marque’s backers have already spelled out the first details of a 10-year plan that will put at least four new TVRs on the road from 2017.

Selling out the first year's production certainly sounds promising. Great to see some Gordon Murray Design iStream tech being used also.

The turbo’s compressor is too small – part of that ‘size zero’ concept – and cannot be made to run fast enough to compensate in terms of creating enough heat to give the ersH something to work with. But whether the breakthrough even comes next season could depend upon what happens with the engine homologation regulations. As things currently stand, the engine token system reverts in 2016 to how it was in 2014. i.e. tokens cannot be spent during the season

Fascinating analysis of the underlying design issues holding McLaren-Honda back in F1 this season.

Not the highest of production values (those reactions and that electricity); nonetheless interesting and entertaining.

via SportscarOne

In streaming rain on Bathurst's 190mph Conrod Straight, the yellow BMW M3 appeared to aquaplane gently onto the grass verge. It glanced the wall and crossed the track, still clearly under control, to be braked safely to a halt.

It was October 4, 1992, on the 33rd lap of the Bathurst 1000. At the wheel was the 1967 F1 World Champion, Denny Hulme. The 56-year-old had suffered a fatal heart attack.

Twelve months earlier, Hulme had driven a similar BMW M3 to fourth at the mountain classic. The following day, he and I travelled to Tasmania to tour the route of the inaugural Targa Tasmania road rally.

Michael Stahl reflects on time spent with 1967 F1 World Champion, Denny Hulme, in this 2013 profile for Motor Sport Magazine.

I get to do something that there aren't really a lot of people left that even know how to do. I want to be the one that ... keeps it going.

Brilliant.

Although not officially timed, the lap record didn't stand a chance.

Official press release.

Love these things.

Lenny Shiller is a lifelong Brooklyn resident and classic car collector. He has amassed a staggering 58 rare classic cars, while he also owns hundreds of vintage bikes, motorcycles, and memorabilia. Lenny spends his time restoring and maintaining his collection, with the intention one day to pass them on to the next generation. The walls of his 12,000 sq ft garage in Gowanus are stacked with car parts he has collected over the years, the space resembling part working garage, part museum.

Both drivers seem to to be giving it everything, so fascinating to see the difference in straight line speed, entry/corner/exit speeds between these two very different though both very rapid cars.

via WTF1

That VW Kombi Ducati hauler...

Don't miss his Flickr stream either.

Turn your volume to 11 for this one.

Bidding range estimate £175,000-200,000

via Octane

Dubbed the Marine Edition, the special Mono has been modified to be stored aboard luxury yachts instead of on land. Modifications include a special anti-corrosion coating to protect against salty climates, as well as a strengthened chassis with lifting points for yacht cranes.

That's another automotive niche filled.

It takes something truly spectacular to have Always Garaged reporting current news events.

Love this quote from Feraboli shown at the beginning of the video:

I believe Ferruccio chose the bull not only because it was his zodiac sign... also because his competitor had the prancing horse and he wanted to be different and better... but there is more to it than that... there is the fact that you cannot tame the bull... you can tame the horse, but you cannot tame the bull.

More information: lambolab.org

Talk about commitment.

• Intro
• Bugatti Vision Grand Turismo
• Honda Project 2&4
• Rolls-Royce Dawn
• Audi S4
• Porsche Mission E Concept
• Lamborghini Huracán Spyder and Aventador Roadster
• Jaguar F-Pace
• Ferrari 488 Spyder
• Alfa Romeo Guilia
• Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport
• Mercedes hall
• Porsche 911 Carrera S (991.2)
• Bentley Bentayga
• Audi E-Tron Quattro Concept
• Best of the rest

Aussie V8 fans will have to get used to four-cylinder and V6 power for their future performance sedans, the Asia-Pacific boss of General Motors Stefan Jacoby has confirmed what has long been feared.

The Holden V8 will die once manufacturing comes to an end at Holden’s factory in Elizabeth in South Australia at the end of 2017.

In an interview with Australian media at the Frankfurt motor show overnight, Mr Jacoby said: “The world obviously is changing and the V8 period is coming to an end.”

What's an HRT 427? According to Wikipedia:

Originally intended to be put into production as competition against vehicles such as the Porsche 911 GT2, it soon became apparent to Holden that the high specification HRT 427 could not be built in such limited quantities for the original A$215,000 asking price. As a result, the project was eventually cancelled and all customer deposits received refunded.

See also: 2002-2003 Bathurst 24 Hour.

That's one hell of a publicity stunt.

Varni tells the story of falling in love with the Miura at first sight back in the late '60s:

These things were $19,000 new in those days, and I’d just bought a house with my wife for $11,000 in 1966, and I said, ‘I’ll never be able to own one of these’.

Though buy one he did. Rather seems to enjoy driving it too.

Want more? Classic Driver also covered the event.

The takeover of Turin-based Pininfarina, the creator of the Ferrari 458 Spider roadster, marks a move by Mahindra to add flair following its acquisitions of South Korean carmaker Ssangyong and the scooter unit of French auto manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen. The designer already cooperates with Mumbai- based Mahindra on SUV development and worked with it on the TUV300 compact SUV, which the company introduce later this week.

Pininfarina has been unprofitable for 10 of the past 11 years while struggling with debt. It shut a floundering division that built cars for other manufacturers three years ago. Chairman Paolo Pininfarina, a grandson of the company’s founder, said on April 22 that a new investor will provide “financial solidity and bolster growth in coming years.”

via Road and Track

As good as it is, the producers seemed to have skipped over the E34 M5, forgot to film the E12 M535i having a crack, ditto the E36 M3. Shame on you. Hearing the E46 CSL being wound out might make up for it. Just a little bit.

via Road & Track

Bertone - the carrozzeria behind the likes of the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, the Alfa GTV, and Fiats like the Dino and X1/9 - was declared bankrupt last year. The full story of the demise of this great design house is a desperately sad, internecine disaster, so convoluted that it really can't be told here.

Now the courts in Milan have ordered the assets of the bankrupt 'Bertone Cento' company be sold at an online auction next week. Among these is the Bertone brand itself, which the auctioneer values at £2.2 million.

Those with pockets deep enough will snag not only the Bertone brand but with it a motley collection of one-off prototypes and design studies that form the Bertone museum in Italy.

Will be very interesting to see where it goes. The end of an era or the beginning of a new one?

• That yellow Bugatti EB 110 SS fetched £560,000, a relative bargain considering the bidding estimate.
• That Porsche 956 Le Mans winner went and fetched a thoroughly decent US$10,120,000.
• That Maserati Boomerang prototype found a buyer for €3,289,500.
• That Nissan Skyline Kenmeri made a very healthy US$176,000.
• That Porsche RS 61 once owned by Sir Stirling Moss was hammered in for £1,905,500.
• And better late than never, that Ferrari GTO from last year fetched an astounding US$38,115,000.

The Fighter is a wonderful oddity. It's a novel experience to drive, a privilege as well. It makes me wonder what Bristol would have been like had it made more of them, had it been a bigger presence rather than the exclusive club it was in the end.

Bristol's Fighter was an approach to modernism from a firm that was very much rooted in it's own past. It has presence, power, and makes you feel a bit special even if some of the bits of it are a bit wonky. It's a crying shame more people don't get to enjoy these however if they did: would it have been so special?

The whole point of a derelict is to blend in and have a good time. To enjoy life. Not only are we working to further enable the user by reengineering the vehicle to have more modern functionality and enhanced utility, we also sort of trying to create a moment in time, a safe zone. If you have a modern luxury car there are so many preconceived notions today. Everything things: he's a this or he's a that or she's all about the money. You just get beyond all that noise, all that nonsense. If anyone even notices this bus, they're going to smile. They're going to get positive vibrations, thumbs up, good feelings.

Was this the greatest lap in F1 history?

The first Howmet car was so interesting that it was different and you had to rethink everything you were doing to built it, so that was a challenge. It's the only turbine car to have won a race. It ran in the endurance races at that time, racing against the GT40 Fords and the Porsche factory and Ferrari teams. For an experimental car with a turbine engine in it, we were pretty proud of that.

The sound this thing makes...

What did you think of the race on Sunday? If you found it anything other than utterly spellbinding from flag to flag, it is possible you and I were tuned into different channels.

Actually I watched both the Chinese Grand Prix and the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone and whether you tune in because you like to see close racing or variety in the sound, shape and technology of the competitors, the sports cars beat the open wheelers hollow.

Agreed. Multiple class endurance racing is where it's at.

We really want this crazy thing to succeed, it just needs continued backing to allow it to be developed to its full potential.

Webber's car, chassis #605/918, features the iconic 'Salzberg Racing' livery worn by the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans winning 917K. Standard in the lightweight 'Weissach Pack' fitted to this car is a full-body wrap which would otherwise contribute 2.3 kg of the total 41 kg stripped out of the standard car. Interestingly Mark's opted to forgo that saving by having one of the available wrap schemes painted on his car instead.

Quite unbelievably it is still finished in its original coat of paint and this designated race car still retains all of its factory fitted panels. Plucked out of a collection it is believed this Cup car has never been subject to anything other than light recreational track use rather than bumper to bumper competitive racing and as such displays only a peppering of stone chips to its wheel arches and a perfectly aged patina. Clearly dry stored over its minimal mileage, the car presents as quite the unique prospect having never been adorned with a livery and in its original factory build spec.

Nuts.

Price on application, available via The Octane Collection

Jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

It has often been repeated that the car was not designed to be a racecar, but I always thought that, with the GT regulations of that time, it was clearly well suited to become a competitive racer. The road version had gone from early sketch ideas to a finished design that was expensive, but with a wonderful engine from BMW it was well received by the press, public and customers. Two of those customers, Thomas Bscher and Ray Bellm suggested to McLaren that the F1 would make a good racecar for the BPR. McLaren quickly developed a race version, which, by the company’s own admission, was little changed from the road car

Don't miss this article for early design sketches of what would become the iconic supercar.

Your regular variety 308 wouldn't receive much attention around these parts, so we'll make an exception for this one. Just look at it!

From the official presser:

The PEUGEOT 308 Racing Cup will be available from the end of 2016 to customers all around the world. It is intended that it will succeed the RCZ Racing Cup in both single-make championships and saloon and sportscar racing series such as the VLN in Germany, CER in Spain, CITE in Italy and BGDC in Belgium, or even endurance championships like the 24H Series.

Don't miss the accompanying photo gallery.

More of this please Peugeot!

Taylor and Crawley have listed chassis 12-C-190 for sale, the #4 car as raced at the 1990 classic:

Chassis 190 was shaken down at Silverstone by Andy Wallace and the first race was Le Mans in June. Crewed by Davy Jones, Michel Ferte and Elisio Salazar, #190 lined up 7th on the grid, the fastest of the four car Jaguar team. The 7.4 litre 750bhp V12 topped 220mph on the Mulsanne in spite of the new chicanes and lapped at nearly 140mph. Running well up for the first half of the race but on Sunday morning a long pitstop for repairs to the nose and brakes cost it time and subsequent stops for the same problems dropped it down the order to 12th and at midday it was retired.

Price on application.

via 24hr Le Mans

The Bugatti EB110 was one of the three great supercars of the 1990s. Romano Artioli's dream took four years to create, but the result was a compact, all-wheel drive machine with huge performance. But six months later Bugatti announced a faster '110, the SuperSport...

A very very special car. One of the only 30 or so SuperSports from the already tiny total EB110 factory run of around about 130 cars.

As you'll gather from the video, this particular example is being auctioned by RM Sotherby's at their upcoming 7 September event in London.

Bidding range estimate £600,000- £770,000.

UPDATE: Sold for £560,000 (source)

I think Chris Harris likes it:

Normally aspirated V12. I don't care what you do with turbochargers. You can make them very very impressive, you can make them very very fast, but the raw simplicity and---for want of a better word---emotion of this engine... And this is such a powerhouse this thing, that it will marmalise even 325-section rears. That has to be a good thing.

Don't miss background from the video's creator, Michael Mirasol, at Movie Mezzanine; and yet more meta over at No Film School.

Our pick as the greatest: 'Ronin'.

Peering at the instruments, I can still see the tacho cranking past 6000rpm and the speedo nudging beyond 140mph. When I look at my hands on that big, thin wheel, I can feel the car thrusting forward, rock-steady. We were doing better than 140mph but it felt as right as rain. No worries about keeping it all straight on that narrow bit of road, long before the Hume had any multi-lane sections – or 110km/h speed limit.

Hell, running flat out in the GTHO was a fine moment. I understand blokes all over Australia have posters of Uwe’s memorable picture up on their walls, which, more than anything else, captures the magic of the mighty HO!

Their review of the 'HO shocked a nation with boasts of covering '200 miles in two hours' and a photo of the car running down the public highway at an indicated 104 mph. Little did the readership know, the true top speed run was a rather higher. High enough for the editors to lose their nerve, opting to run with a doctored photo of top speed run showing the car's speedometer needle at 'only' 104 mph rather than the actual and even more incredible 145 mph.

And then I was at the bottom, standing on an old roadway with weeds sprouting through the cracked pavement. I was staring at a new, shiny silver, domed structure that ran along the road for about 300 yards and ended at a decaying tunnel entrance. A stack of slick racing tires stood nearby, the final clue that I had found the place that symbolizes all that is fantastic about motorsports. Now I just had to figure out how to tell the story.

The Audi Sport moniker has been set up to more clearly delineate Audi’s hardcore sports car (RS models and the R8) and racing activities from the rest of the brand — in essence, it’s the new forward-facing name for its quattro GmbH subsidiary (Audi’s version of AMG or BMW M).

Makes perfect sense for Audi to leverage more from their extensive motorsport activities by their factory WEC, GT, and DTM squads, as well as numerous customer teams and Audi Sport TT Cup program. As much as I liked the use of quattro GmbH as their 'RS' skunkworks, 'quattro' as a brand does have legacy motorsport and production car issues to overcome, had it been used as Audi's equivalent 'BMW M' or 'AMG' division.

Similar drill: give it a good belting around Fiorano, then punch it sideways out of every decent hairpin bend in the hills above Modena.

The surprise move to purchase the rights to promote and run the 12 Hour certainly triggered a tsunami of comment in the grown-up media as well as the usual gossip – much of it ill-informed and hysterical – on blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

In some quarters, the bold act by V8 Supercars – the same rival category that earlier this year blocked its drivers from competing in the Bathurst 12 Hour – could be interpreted as being bad for the future of that enduro.

Some even suggested the V8s only wanted it to kill off a rising threat, a race with real momentum and one that in recent years has been emerging as an increasingly popular and significant event internationally.

Not so. V8 Supercars Australia (using owner Archer Capital’s money) wanted the 12 Hour for many fascinating reasons – mostly very positive for V8SA and some potentially beneficial for the race.

Let's hope he's right on this one.

Honda’s nine staff – including five riders, who did double duty as mechanics – flew to the Isle of Man from Tokyo, via Hong Kong, Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Beirut, Frankfurt and London. They flew most of the way in a BOAC Comet, the world’s first commercial jetliner.

During the previous months they had spent their time learning how to eat with a knife and fork, how to wear a suit and tie, instead of traditional Japanese dress, and also mourning the death of a team-mate, who had died while doing stunts for a Japanese biker movie. All these men were members of the Honda Speed Club, a gang of keen young Honda employees who raced and did movie stunts on Hondas.

Don't miss the previous installment from earlier in the year.

The illustrious racing career of 956-003 started at the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans when driven by Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan. It placed second overall as part of a Porsche sweep of the top three positions. After that fantastic initial result, this 956 went on to win the next four races in which it was entered and was piloted by the best drivers of the era including Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass, and Derek Bell. In 1983, 956-003 was again pressed into duty as one of three cars entered by the Porsche factory team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After 24 hours of grueling competition, 956-003, with Al Holbert aboard, crossed the finish line in first place, 63 seconds ahead of 956-001 and Bell in one of the most thrilling finishes in Le Mans history. With its exclusive works car status, longtail Le Mans bodywork, iconic Rothmans livery, and exceptional competition record, 956-003 must be considered among the most significant Porsche racing cars, and thus, one of the finest competition cars built since WWII.

Don't miss Goodman & Company's even more detailed write-up and provenance statement.

Bidding range estimate US $7,000,000--$9,000,000.

UPDATE: Sold for US$10,120,000 (source)

Good enough for 1st in his class and 4th overall behind only an open wheeler and two very specialised electric machines.

It's a car with quite a story. A gift from one Aristotle Onassis to rally-driving singer and fellow countryman, Stamatis Kokotas. The car is said to have broken down sometime in the mid '70s, then simply parked and left at the Hilton. It wasn't until 2003 that renovation works to the hotel ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympics forced it be moved and 'rediscovered'.

Bidding reportedly topped out at just over US$480,000 though failed to meet the seller's reserve. Ever since, the details and whereabouts of this wonderfully original and unique car seem to have gone cold.

First seen as a concept car at the Turin Motor Show in 1971, the Maserati Boomerang was a typically adventurous work by the man who would later be judged 'Car Designer of the Century': Giorgetto Giugiaro.

By the time of its appearance at the Geneva Salon in March 1972, the Boomerang would for the next few years be displayed regularly, appearing at the Paris, London and Barcelona international motor shows and receiving unanimous praise.

There's no mistaking the Boomerang's wacky instruments (and stalks!) within the steering wheel party piece. Concept cars rarely show up on the open market, road-legal and registered examples even less so.

Bidding range estimate on application. If you have to ask...

UPDATE: Sold for €3,289,500 (source)

Hardly anyone's ever seen it. It's only a few lucky owners of the car who's ever seen these things and I'm sure those owners would just go and put it on their bookshelf. It's not the sort of thing they'd have onboard in their car. I like to think of it as an art book; it's like a nice coffee table book that you can look through that happens to be very informative for the owner as well.

I knew it was going to be something special but, just like the car, we had no idea how legendary the whole program was going to be.

To be sold with no reserve, bidding expected range between US $150,000 - $200,000.

via Silodrome

UPDATE: Sold for US$176,000 (source)

Best make it full screen, headphones on, volume right up.

Watch as Daniel Müller gives his historic rally spec Gullwing a belting along the narrow and winding 7.8km road from Langwies to Arosa for the 2012 International Hillclimb Arosa Classic Car event.

Rare to see such a classic motor being driven on the limit.

Whatever you do, stick around for the action at the 2:20 and 4:30 marks.

4 litres, 500hp, and a lot of wing.

Yes, that rear wing. Have your seen the rear wing? Have your seen the rear wing on this car?!?!?

Chris Harris gets behind the wheel of the much anticipated next iteration of the venerable Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

I think he likes it.

BMW are set to replace the Z4 with an all new 6er based GT3 contender for the 2016 season.

The JDM production run of 400 apparently sold out in 24 hours nonetheless, 16 additional cars being built for the UK market, another five for Australia and three '#000' prototypes originally owned by Colin McRae, Nicky Grist and Prodrive's David Lapworth.

In a TV interview McRae described it as one of his favourite cars, while admitting "it gets you into bother" by virtue of its character. Mind boggles at what qualifies as 'bother' to a man of McRae's talents and given what he did for the brand you'd have thought Subaru would have been happy to gift him one. But, no, he had to pay for it. "I got a good price but that really hurt, being Scottish!" he said at the time.

Brutally ugly.

via BimmerFile

An incredibly rare and immaculate example of the BMW M1 is up for sale in Germany for £603,000 – close to double the value of most M1s on the market. The iconic supercar is one of just three painted in Polaris Silver and was originally commissioned by Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

via evo, Mint Classics

Quick because it stopped the clocks at 2:32.14, besting the previous 2:38 road-legal production car record as well as Koenigsegg's own previous 2:33.16 best in the same car just a month earlier.

Dirty because it looks as though this lap was set at an open track day, with lots of other slow moving objects to negotiate. And the small matter of that large stone chip right in the middle of the screen. Plus the video's description mentions the main in-car camera was not working, hence the low-res backup footage we see here.

Re-run soon?

via Goodwood Road & Racing

*[PS]: Metric Horsepower

The 918 Spyder was systematically developed to be a performance hybrid with plug-in technology. The hybrid super sports concept car made its debut at the 2010 Geneva International Motor Show where it met with overwhelming approval. In the summer of 2010, the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG gave the green light for its production development. When the car was launched on the market in late 2013, the 918 Spyder represented a continuation of a series of super sports cars in Porsche history. As technology pioneers they were, without exception, among the ultimate sports cars of their respective decades: the 904 Carrera GTS, the 959, the 911 GT1 and the Carrera GT.

Future classic?

Think of it as McLaren's 458 Speciale to the 458 version of their 650S; only 500 made, all sold; more aero; wider track, lower suspension; upwards of 100kg weight savings (down to a dry-weight of just 1,230kg) thanks to plastic rear window, titanium exhaust, lightweight suspension components and more; faster steering ratio; trick Pirelli P Zero Trofeo tyres; plus that extra 25bhp from an engine that shares only 50% of the components from its 650S brethren.

What does he think?

Dare I say it, it just feels like a slightly baby P1.

• The Porsche Team made 90 pit stops, 30 per car.
• At 26 of the 90 stops, tires and drivers were also changed.
• The longest distance covered with one set of tires was 54 laps for all three cars. In car number 17 Mark Webber did this ultra-long run, in car number 18 it was Neel Jani and in the number 19 prototype it was Nico Hülkenberg.

One for the true anoraks.

Porsche took its first overall victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours since 1998, with Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber leading a one-two.

The #19 919 Hybrid moved to prominence through the night, with stints from Hulkenberg and Tandy hauling it back into contention after it lost some ground during an early safety car period.

Bamber then picked up the mantle in the early hours of the morning, and as Sunday progressed any threat from Audi behind crumbled as all three of its cars required unscheduled pitstops.

All that was left after that was for Porsche to nurse its #19 and #17 home to a one-two finish, including taking care during a light rainshower in the final 10 minutes.

Porsche's 17th outright victory at Le Mans, and a class act.

To put their relative speed into perspective:

It is the fastest pole lap set at Le Mans since the introduction of the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, and the sixth fastest in history in terms of laptime regardless of configuration.

It is also the first Porsche to take pole at Le Mans since Michele Alboreto in the Joest WSC 95 in 1997.

According to Autosport:

Ford's return to Le Mans has been timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first of its four consecutive victories in the 24 Hours from 1966.

Don't miss the behind the scenes clip by NISMO TV.

Don't miss Part Two.

(via)

While not the actual car he shared for the 1961 World Sportscar Championship, this particular example has nonetheless been campaigned by Moss at numerous historic events throughout his 'retirement' from professional racing.

Sale estimate is listed as AU$3.4 to AU$4m.

via Motorsport Retro

UPDATE: Sold for £1,905,500 (source)

You have to get used to the car rolling around and moving on the suspension.

As you go into a corner and turn in can feel a little odd because you've got all that lean on the front suspension to cope with, as well as trying to get the all-terrain tyres to turn in.

But when you're used to it, it's just brilliant fun. The feeling as the car moves around and watching the weight balance... It's a totally different sort of sports car.

Jonathan Moore for Speedhunters takes us to the Musée Automobiles Matra for an inside look at the cars the forged Matra's motorsport legacy.

Bonus: Four and a half minutes of natural sound footage of the GT S and C63 S Estate Medical Car counterpart.

See also:

• Speedhunters does Toyota Motorsport GmbH
• The infamous Toyota MR2 Group S

Based on a 1981 SC chassis, Anscheidt had all hanging panels remade in kevlar, replaced glass with plastic, removed the heater, and stripped out the interior to bring it down to featherweight 820kg.

(via Goodwood Road & Racing)

And finest they certainly got at their second event held earlier this month, hosted by Bandito Brothers in Southern California.

Here's a short video of the event.

In a shed in Oamaru, New Zealand by three Kiwi blokes, no less.

Huge want.

Look out for car #219 being driven by Kiwi gun racer Earl Bamber and #100 by Chris Harris.

The Porsche Carrera Cup race to end Porsche Carrera Cup races.

Why?

I bought it for the quality of the thinking behind it. Now it has become a thing of value, it is time for someone else to enjoy it.

Read on for some great insights into owning the supercar of supercars, as told by a true enthusiast.

Located somewhere in the UK; to be sold through Taylor & Crawley.

I actually used it as a resume piece for getting the job at Singer (Vehicle Design). I'm pretty sure it's what got me the job...

Inspirational.

It is important to remember that the computer, whilst being a useful tool, is just a box filled with wires, plastic and sand; there are no ideas inside that enclosure. They are in the designer's head and in the sculptor's hands.

Worth a view for the included clay model photos alone.

To my way of thinking, the 2002 is one of modern civilization's all-time best ways to get somewhere sitting down. It grabs you. You sit in magnificently-adjustable seats with great, tall windows all around you. You are comfortable and you can see in every direction. You start it. Willing and un-lumpy is how it feels. No rough idle, no zappy noises to indicate that the task you propose might be anything more than child's play for all those 114 Bavarian superhorses.

Car & Driver magazine reminds us of one of the greatest pieces of automotive prose ever written, a review of the BMW 2002 by David E. Davis, Jr. published in April 1968.

C&D also released a PDF reprint of the article.

Located somewhere in Victoria, Australia. Listed on Carsales for $499,990.

As we continue to transform our business, we would like to share with you news that will break soon on decisions we are making to ensure a bright future for Ford Australia.

This afternoon, we will announce we will provide support to teams racing Ford Falcons in the 2015 V8 Supercars series but will not renew our sponsorships after the 2015 season.

We are electing to invest our funds to continue expanding and refreshing our product lineup while delivering a leading consumer experience.

At least now there's no uncertainty.

This is the first lap of the 2014 Nurburgring 24h rennen, onboard Ring-Attack #303 BMW M235i Racing with the driver Jesse Krohn.

Nearly all of it at ten-tenths. So very fast.

via @karunchandhok

Sounds similar to the Ferrari FXX programme, though McLaren contend that they're not following trends and they don't mimic.

If only there were a GT1-style race series for cars like this, kind of a shame to see the hallowed GTR plate attached to a car that won't get a chance to compete at Le Mans.

Valentino does his job with the casual attitude of a postman on his rounds – the only difference being that we overtook a truck at 230km/h. On the wrong side of the road. In a bend.

"Mister Lamborghini" indeed.

Don Dethlefsen of The WerkShop in Libertyville, Illinois talks about the the very first restoration his shop did of a fully optioned 1973 BMW 2002tii.

via @Coudal

From the moment its entry was proposed late in 1978, the little rotary-powered sports coupe from Japan challenged traditional thinking on what an outright contender in 1980s touring car racing could be. And that was enough to trigger a farcical political stoush over its acceptance, which played out from late December 1979 to January 1981.

The fascinating story of Mazda's foray into the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Located in Langenfeld, Germany. Offered by Modena Motorsport GmbH.

via PistonHeads

American giant Team Penske has confirmed it will join the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship with Marcos Ambrose in partnership with legendary outfit Dick Johnson Racing.

Ford, Dick Johnson Racing, Marcos Ambrose driving #17, and Team Penske. What could possibly go wrong?

via @Build_Threads

This example looks very tidy and has relatively low KMs. Only blemish is the after-market sunroof, worth fixing for such a rare car.

Located in St Ives, NSW. Listed on Carsales for $65,000.

Gordon Murray on getting commitment from suppliers for the project:

“We’re going to build the best engineered car in the world and the best driver’s car in the world, can’t tell you a thing about it at all, but if you want to come on board I need all this stuff for free”.

"Safely ensconced in a shed in deepest, darkest Shropshire, two men with their faculties dulled by liberal dosing’s of Jack Daniel’s finest No.7 brand embarked upon a journey that would change their world."

With a little bit of fabrication along the way.

via AUSmotive

"Imagine one of the best looking race tracks in the world. A huge crowd of car enthusiasts and some of the craziest car builds."

23 minute documentary about Gatebil, Swedish home of all things drift.

Located in Canterbury, VIC. Listed on Carsales for $69,990.

"1 person, 24 hours, 9,621 photos, 5 beers, 0 media credentials and this is what happens."

DC Chavez turns some bad luck into a fittingly great tribute to the 2014 Le Mans 24-Hour race, with hardly a car in sight.

Best part is that they've kept enough original bits to keep it UK homologated and registrable as a 1964-model.

304hp, 248lb ft and a 7,600rpm redline against a mere 897kg. 0-62mph in around 3.8 seconds.

Speaks volumes about the quality of the McLaren F1 chassis that they took a road-car, modified it to GTR-spec, used it as a development hack to test the GTR concept, took it to Le Mans and won first time out.

"It's taken a determined effort by our team to get FIA approval for a modern 911 in current WRC rallying, but we're delighted to have finally accomplished this. Now that the door has been opened, the prospects offered by a Porsche 911 RGT rally car are incredibly exciting and nothing beats live stage rallying, so we just can't wait to try it."

Great news.

Perhaps unsurprisingly:

"Probably my biggest prize possession is the 997 GT3 RS 4.0-litre..."

Webber is one of many F1 drivers known, as this article confirms, or rumoured to have a 997 GT2 RS lurking in their garages.

Also known as the Audi Sport Quattro RS 002 or Quattro Sport E2.

via Jalopnik

"The development of the body-in-white tooling was undertaken by the same department that builds all Jaguar Land Rover prototype vehicles, so the expertise applied to the project was world-class. The build process and assembly procedures were initially proved out on Car Zero; this is effectively an engineering prototype and will not carry one of the six Lightweight chassis numbers."

Incredible attention to detail.

'Car Zero' is to be shown at the upcoming Pebble Beach Automotive weekend.

We'd love to read more about each of these one-off proof of concepts.

Nissan will unleash the GT-R and go head-to-head with Audi, Porsche and Toyota at Le Mans in 2015. The Japanese manufacturer will also contest the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship with a full factory effort of two LM P1 cars.

We just hope they're not spreading their marketing budget too thin: Formula 1, LM P2, GT3, Garage 56, GT Academy, the Olympics, Champions League football, and now WEC with an LM P1.

Something's got to give.

Jaguar is to build six brand new 'Lightweight' E-types - the 'missing' six Lightweights that were never built from the intended 18-car series.

You can't get much more special than this.

Being essentially a Lamborghini boat, it is appropriately and wonderfully overengined. Power comes from a pair of 4.0-litre V12s, similar to those found in the 350GT.

Sounds like our kind of boat.

With a 180-degree pillarless cockpit, retracting headlights, a glass engine canopy, and an open tail end allowing for voyeuristic automotive upskirting, the Abarth 2000 is one of a kind.

Perfect.

The fastest and most powerful production Land Rover ever, takes the ultimate test lap at the iconic Nurburgring.

Really looking forward to this, sounds incredible. JLR have been knocking it out of the park recently.

Driven in anger once again by the man who took the one and only Le Mans victory by a rotary-powered car, Johnny Herbert.

Only fifty-nine 924 Carrera GTS Porsches were produced, of which only fifteen were the type Clubsport. This is one of those fifteen, with only 5,000 km of experience.

Located in Drachten, The Netherlands. Listed for €285,000.

"A 1962 Ferrari 250GTO Berlinetta has been slated to set a new world record for the most expensive car ever to be sold at auction when it goes under the hammer at Quail Lodge, California on 15 August."

"The car was initially delivered to French ski champion Henri Oreiller on 11 September 1962 and was driven with Formula 1 ace Jo Schlesser in that year's Tour de France, in which the pair placed second. Shortly thereafter, the GTO was involved in a crash at Montlhery in which Oreiller struck a building and was killed. The car was repaired by Ferrari and sold to gentleman driver Paolo Colombo."

UPDATE: Sold for US$38,115,000 (source)

Be sure to watch the video.

Audi scored its 13th victory in 15 attempts at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler their third in four years, but only after one of the most dramatic races in the grand euduro’s long history.

What a race! The last few hours had us on the edge of our seats. Porsche #20 was looking like an outside chance with just two hours to go, until engine issues put paid to a fairy tale return to La Sarthe.

As "Peter Perfect" put it himself:

“It’s a police car without a siren!”

(via Motorsport Retro)

Located in Bentleigh, VIC. Listed on Carsales for $37,500.

Located in Artarmon, NSW. Listed on Carsales for $20,000.

(Read evo's review here.)

Rick Kelly gets behind the wheel of the Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima for some hot laps of Australia's only NASCAR track, the Calder Park Thunderdome.

With so few purpose-built tracks available in Australia, sad to see Calder in such a state.

(More)

"Group S was a stillborn class of rallying which was canned alongside Group B in 1986. Originally slanted to replace the outgoing Group B with an exciting power-limiting formula not dissimilar to current WRC, Group S was instead shelved along with Group B, in favor of the considerably less exciting Group A."

Never knew this car existed.

Considering the synergies between the FIA's new LMP1 sportscar and F1 technical regulations, rumours of this deal might have some legs.

Porsche's somewhat odd choice of a V4 configuration engine for the 919 now doesn't seem that odd at all, considering the possibility they may be able to use the same basic architecture to produce a V6 version of the same platform for F1.

In the fall, shortly after Enzo’s passing, of 1988 I was on a vacation with my parents in Austria, and one rainy day I convinced them to drive to Italy. Not just any part of Italy... Maranello! It was my wish to see where all the cars from my dreams were created.

Shot just three weeks prior to their 2013 Le Mans campaign, a race forever remembered for the tragic accident that claimed the life of Aston Martin Racing driver Allan Simonsen behind the wheel of his #95 GTE-AM Vantage.

All 28 minutes of it, snippets of which you would have heard in Harris's earlier review of said P1 XP7.

Crying shame that BMW in all their "niche within a niche" model strategies hasn't built an M3 estate to take on the likes of the Mercedes-AMG C63 and Audi RS4 fast estates.

Includes some fantastic insight into the development and capabilities of this new breed of supercar from McLaren Chief Test Driver, Chris Goodwin.

A whole new thing.

See also: previous generation MINI R56 production line.

via AUSmotive

Toyota New Zealand's official motorsport wing - Toyota Racing - saw potential in the ZN6 chassis as well, and in March this year announced that it would be developing a new one-make/showroom-stock series around the car that's destined to become a future classic. It wasn't talking about a car like TRD's 86 Racing edition, but a proper track attacker.

The Dakar rally is probably the most gruelling and dangerous motor race in the world. Motorcycles, cars, quad bikes and trucks compete, not so much with each other, but with the race itself, to survive each year’s course. Competitors slog through each mile in danger of serious injury and death.

In 1980 a French team of 4 riders, put together by Jean-Francois Piot, decided that this all sounded wonderful and that they would enter the race. On their Vespas.

BMW Motorsport is adding a new car to its customer racing range, which is spearheaded by the BMW Z4 GT3, in the form of the BMW M235i Racing. At a price of 59,500 Euros (plus VAT), this car helps to make motorsport affordable on an entry-level basis. Customer feedback has been very positive so far. No wonder, as the new car is a true beauty.

(Read more...)

"A 911 that comes through Singer's shop isn't just restored or modified, it becomes a creative exercise where the car is completely rethought - honed like a hand-crafted blade - into a Porsche that trancends the notion of an automobile, and into a work of art."

A review of their RHD "Indonesia" car this time around.

The best early '70s Porsche 911 that never existed.

Related article.

(More), (Even more)

See also: Behind the scenes / More

via Waxy.org

This one-of-180 RHD, ex-UK specimen in classic RS Blau looks the goods. Seller mentions a throughly documented history and some recent suspension restoration work.

Located in Brighton-Le-Sands, NSW. Listed on Carsales for $69,950.

Update 12 Oct 2015: Still for sale - now listed for $88,000!

The Honda Yuasa Racing Team will campaign Civic Tourer-based machines in 2014, the first team since Volvo if memory serves. There's only a rendering at present, but doesn't it just look brilliant (and a little barmy?).

Honda ups the ante after clean-sweeping every BTCC championship three years running. Bravo.

"...here, in Mark’s own words, are some pen-portraits of some of the key figures from his career."

We'll miss cheering on MW when F1 rolls around next year, though the prospect of him returning to the grid at Le Mans in a factory Porsche is epic.

Hardcore motorsport on a packed grid of priceless historic machinery. It doesn't get much better.

A profile by Petrolicious.

The attention to detail that has gone into this car and its limited-to-nine siblings is just perfect.

The problem is, the safer the circuit becomes the more ruthless the driving becomes.

Sean always did things with racing cars I couldn't quite comprehend, and now he is gone and I'll never have the chance to watch his talent grow and vicariously enjoy the many successes that he was surely going to achieve. That makes me sad and angry.

The JRM Racing Nissan GT-R you see here is a relative newcomer to the class, and it certainly stands out next to the Lamborghinis and Audi R8s. The GT3 GT-R costs £320,000 plus taxes (good value compared with some rivals), and a season’s racing should set you back around £1 million.

We love a quality motorsport build.

(See also)

A rare beast, more so in Australia as they were never sold here new.

Located in Woodend, Victoria. Listed on Carsales for $9,990.

Appears to have good bones, would look great fitted with some period wheels and a more stock interior.

Located in Benalla, Victoria. Listed on Carsales for $19,500.

Last registered in 1998, looks clean and complete.

Located in Fitzroy, Victoria. Listed on Carsales for $8,750.

Why? Because:

Who wants to watch a small brown man driving a supercar slowly?

How do you advertise a performance car when the one thing you can't advertise is performance?

Sadly this disease is also well entrenched in Australia, witness the recent sequence of recuts forced upon Nissan's latest Pulsar SSS spot.

See also.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport publication reported on Sunday that tyre manufacturer Michelin is close to making a formal announcement that it will enter the next tendering process for the supply contract.

A week's been and gone and still no announcement. Has the silly season started early?

Because Gatebil.

We like.

"Working with Mercedes-AMG in this way while, of course, remaining independent and preserving the unique character and style of Aston Martin that has been the mainstay of the company throughout its 100-year history, points to a very bright future for the company as it starts its second century in business."

So thumping AMG V8 and V12 engines in next-gen Astons? Looks like someone's birthday wish came true.

The Group C Porsche 962 is an iconic race car to say the least. In the 80's it won countless Le Mans races and to this day holds a very special place in car enthusiasts hearts. One particular Japanese car enthusiast loves this car so much that he can't keep this race car restricted to circuit duties only. He feels the overwhelming need to spend much more time with it, on the streets!

With plates and a full-fat Rothmans livery? Badass.

Everybody has their "thing". For John Willhoit, it's certainly a German thing. For the past 37 years, he and his custom 1971 Porsche 911T have been Stuttgart's outpost in Los Angeles County. Whether in his shop restoring classic 356s and 911s or on the road thrashing his own rear-engined machine, Wilholt's German thing is a good thing indeed.

(via Petrolicious)

*[NOS]: New Old Stock

"Mount Panorama is one of the world’s iconic racing circuits and the Nissan GT-R has incredible history there. We are pleased to be at Bathurst with Nissan Motorsport in V8 Supercars this October, and then again with the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 next February for the Bathurst 12 Hour."

Crack "Nismo Athlete Global Team" GT3 squad fielding drivers from their newly announced "Nismo Global Driver Exchange" program which includes winners of Nissan's GT Academy virtual-to-real world racing competition.

The B12hr just gets better and better.

He is known to be highly-rated by the crew that ran him for Red Bull in the young driver tests in 2009 and 2010 and a strong performance at Silverstone could be decisive in whether he lands a race seat for next year.

Sounds good to us.

What's not to love about this thread?

"everything is important"

Enough said.

Yours for a cool AU$1,100,000.

Many expected something special from nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb as he took part in the 91st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb yesterday (30 June), but not many predicted him to completely obliterate the record.

The Frenchman clocked an incredible time of 8m13.878s, becoming the first driver ever to do a sub nine-minute time and beating the previous Pikes Peak record by over a minute and a half.

A minute and a half. A minute and a half...

"Le Mans is one of the most famous circuits in the world and to be honest, I still see it as unfinished business and I want to do well there. Le Mans can be cruel as we’ve just seen, but it’s incredibly rewarding and that’s part of the allure."

It’s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team. Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.

I’m very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula 1. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.”

After so many rumours for such a long time it’s so great to finally get this out in the open.

With Porsche’s factory tilt at the WEC and Le Mans, Mark's vacated seat at Red Bull Racing stirring up more than a few line-ups in F1 and the wholesale technical changes in F1, 2014 is shaping up to be a vintage year for motorsport.

Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loic Duval took a commanding victory in a Le Mans 24 Hours that was overshadowed by the death of Danish driver Allan Simonsen early in the race.

An epic race, sadly to be remembered for the wrong reasons. RIP Allan Simonsen.

When you think of making a 2500 mile road trip across the United States you don't generally think of hopping into a 41 year old car equipped with no air conditioning, no cruise control, no radio, and seats that don't recline.

Kris Clewell documents a 4,000km cross-country journey behind the wheel of his long-hood 911.

"Volvo has a rich motorsport heritage in this country, including winning Australia's most famous race, Bathurst, 15 years ago this coming October.

As the first luxury car brand to enter a factory team in the V8 Supercars Championship, we're determined to add to this heritage, while strengthening the presence of the S60 model line and the Volvo brand here in Australia."

A two-car team fielded by Garry Rogers Motorsport from 2014 onwards with support from Volvo's global motorsports partner, Polestar, and the backing of Volvo Car Australia. Early reports indicate the team will use a Polestar-led development of the Yamaha B8444S V8 usually found in XC90 or S80 models.

"It's part restoration garage, part race car maintenance facility, part showroom and part museum. In terms of privately owned temples of motoring, it's surely one of the greatest in the world."

Don't forget to check out Part 2.

"Some people walk the walk, whilst others talk the talk. Brian Henderson definitely falls into the aforementioned category -- when it comes to cars, there's not a great deal of talking and more a whole load of doing. In fact, with Brian, it almost seems like there's no point in talking about what's going to happen at all. There's simply no time for it."

22-23 Jun 2013.

"It is fairly clear that by agreeing to a one year deal Vettel is positioning himself to be available for Ferrari if Fernando Alonso does not extend his deal; or to go to Mercedes when Lewis Hamilton's contract is up."

"The engineers were able to start with a blank sheet of paper in the design of the new LMP1 car that was out here today on the Weissach race track for the first time. Hence, they were able to apply many new technologies within the framework of the regulations that will also benefit the customers of our road legal automobiles in the future. After all, there's a race car in every Porsche."

Unlike Formula 1, Porsche can now undertake almost unlimited testing and development before joining the WEC and Le Mans next year.

"It's incredible the calibration work they've done, the chassis is a massive step on. We've got a wider front track... The car just turns so much better than the 997 version."

1,400kg, electric power steering and PDK only, more than made whole by that 9,000rpm redline, recalibrated steering software and bespoke front-axle tweaks.

No Porsche, no care.

"This car is completely road legal. It has indicators, fog lights, even an electric handbrake. And it also has a laminated letter from the Ford Motor Company explaining as much, wedged down inside the chassis - just in case you get stopped by the Polizei."

That laminated letter sure must come in handy.