Most of the 31 Mercedes Benz SSKs built were equipped with very spartan white cycle fender coachwork for racing purposes. The strikingly elegant SSK 'Trossi Roadster' was a rare exception and to underline that it sports a shiny black finish. It is universally considered as one of the most beautiful cars ever built, yet it is until this day not entirely clear who was responsible for its design. Story has it, Count Trossi himself penned the lines, which were then turned into metal by the little known British coachbuilder Willy White. The Trossi Roadster was owned by its originator for almost twenty years and has been part of the fabulous Ralph Lauren Collection since 1988. Immediately after purchasing the unique SSK, Lauren sent it to Paul Russell for an extensive restoration. It has since been shown at all the major concours, taking Best in Show at Pebble Beach and Meadowbrook. At last week's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, yet another major prize was added to the Trossi Roadster's impressive tally.
In the 1950s, Ferrari frequently named its successful racing models after the races they won with the Mille Miglia and Tour de France models being the most famous. Today we take a look at Ferrari's 1953 Mille Miglia winner; the aptly named 340 MM Vignale Spyder. Still wearing its Mille Miglia starting number, it was one of big stars of a 1950s Ferrari racing car display at Villa d'Este and was awarded the special prize of the jury for its historic significance.

Although not mentioned in our report, the Fiat 8V Supersonic was one of our favourite cars at Villa d'Este this past weekend. Sporting one of Ghia's most famous designs, the small coupe was presented in immaculate condition courtesy of a fresh restoration. Nevertheless it was quite surprising to learn that it was awarded best in class against very strong competition.
While we were in Italy, some big automotive news came from Shanghai, China where three major manufacturers unveiled brand new coupes. It is more certainly a sign of the increased importance of the booming country. Audi explored a new class with the Cross Coupe Quattro mini-SUV. It is powered by a two litre diesel engine that has broken the magic 100 bhp/litre. BMW showcased the Concept CS, clearly aimed at the Mercedes Benz CSL. The design is one of the most dramatic of the 'Bangle' BMWs and still looks strangely attractive. Buick revived the Riviera name with a striking gullwing concept that was actually designed in GM's new China-based design centre.
There are few racing car manufacturers that have a record to match that of ERA, which saw all but one of their cars win a race. The very first of these is the featured R1A, which served for several seasons as a Works car. Acura is now also a racing car manufacturer and they have claimed a debut class-win at Sebring with the Courage-based ARX-01a. It was a very promising start of a campaign that should end with a win at Le Mans.

Under a clear blue sky the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este hosted the annual Concorso d'Eleganza on Saturday. As has become tradition, a selection of just fifty or so classic cars lined the shore of beautiful Lake Como, just north of Milan, Italy. This year's selection was particularly strong with almost every one of the 53 cars entered having an interesting 'story' attached to it. Some had a famous first owner like the King of Spain or a movie director like Roberto Rossilini. Others had immaculate racing pedigree in races like the Mille Miglia and the Sebring 12 Hours, and others were just drop dead beautiful to look at. It made for a great spectacle, but it also made judging the cars very difficult. At the end of the day, the judges and the public both made fully understandable choices for the two 'best of show' winners. The Concorso d'Eleganza also saw the debut of the Zagato-styled Maserati GS, which will be available in very limited numbers.
Our photographers were on hand capturing every single car entered in the exclusive 170-shot slideshow and many of the highlights in the 1500-word report. Many of the cars were shot in great detail and will be added to the database in future updates.

German Porsche perfecter Alois Ruf celebrated the opening of a brand new facility in Bahrain with the launch of the 700 bhp CTR3. It is the third in a row of super-Porsches launched exactly ten years apart, however this time around the base is not the epic 911, but the mid-engined Cayman S. It is powered by a turbocharged six cylinder engine that has enough punch to propel the two-seater to a top speed of 375 km/h. A year after debuting the 575 GTZ at Villa d'Este, Zagato will now take the wraps off the Maserati GS Zagato at the annual concours d'elegance. With this custom designed machine, the Milanese coachbuilder continues a long tradition of clothing Maseratis with highlights like the A6G/54 2000, pictured here at the Concorso last year. Also sporting an Italian styled body, but without a long tradition is the Brilliance BC3 Coupe. Shown at Geneva, it is one of the first signs that the Chinese can indeed make good looking cars. When or if it will hit the streets is still uncertain at this point.
At this weekend's Monza 1000 km race the two Peugeots stole the show. There were nonetheless more cars at Monza that deserved to be in the spotlight; not in the least bit the Lola B07/10 Judd of Charouz Racing Systems, which was the fastest non-diesel fueled car. Teething problems in the race meant that it could do no better than ninth in class, but there is plenty of potential in this chassis/engine combination. Building up to last month's Mexico rally the Subaru team debuted their contender for this season: the Impreza WRC2007. Although not victorious yet, it proved immediately competitive against the dominant Citroens and Fords.

Europe's endurance racing season got off to a very fast start yesterday at the Italian Monza track, which hosted the first of this year's six Le Mans Series races. Thanks to the completion of the prototype rule changes, there were a large number of new cars present, all of whom will also head to Le Mans in June. The most prominent 'debutant' was the diesel-engined, fixed head Peugeot 908. The Monza race was the first chance for the French manufacturer to really show what they've been working on in the last year. It had failed to impress at the pre-season Paul Ricard test and most insiders believed the reliability was far from sufficient however the half-painted machine surprised friend and foe. Behind the leading bunch was plenty of action throughout the classes resulting in some unexpected wins. With 47 cars lined up for the start, it was the largest ever grid for the Le Mans Series. It looks set to remain that busy as the championship is oversubscribed for the first time in its four year history. Another sign things are moving forward for the 'Series' was the sizeable crowd that attended the race.
Our reporters traveled to the beautifully preserved track to capture all the action in a full report and an exclusive slideshow, complete with flying cars, glowing discs and smoking tires.

Americans have always loved their cars and that adoration reached a peak in the 1950s when many of the great production and concept cars were introduced. It was the jet age and the big three all tried to incorporate as many airplane derived features on their lavish cars with the huge fins as the best example. Cadillac took an altogether different approach for their super luxury Eldorado Brougham, which was first introduced fifty years ago. Combining an elegant exterior with extremely advanced technology, it has gone into history as one of the very best cars ever constructed. The many technical innovations fitted included the first ever use of air-suspension and twin headlights. At the time the Brougham was launched twin headlights were still illegal in some states, but within a few years there was not a luxury car without them. Cadillac first debuted the twin-headlight setup in 1953 on the Le Mans 'dream car'. This two-seater convertible was named in honour of the Cadillac successes on the legendary track in 1950 and sported a fiberglass body. What further set the Brougham apart from its competition was the seemingly endless list of equipment fitted standard, many of which took decades to become common place on other cars like power seats, central locking, a signal seeking radio and a full set of cups hidden in the dashboard. Priced at just over $13,000, it was twice as expensive as any other Cadillac model. It was not the biggest hit in the salesroom even though 700 of the exclusive Caddillacs found an owner in the first two years. Even though the Brougham was only produced as a separate model for four years, it greatly helped Cadillac get the edge over Ford's Lincoln, which cancelled their Continental II within a few months after the Brougham was launched.

Hardly a month after the 'M3 Concept' broke cover at Geneva, BMW released the first information of the E92 M3 production car. As was speculated, the six cylinder marvel found in the previous two M3 generations has now been replaced by a four litre V8. This engine was first used in the M3 in the GTR racing version of the E46 model. Time will tell whether the new M3 is the performance benchmark its predecessors have been for years. At around the same time, BMW's rivals from Stuttgart took the wraps off the rather more extreme and limited edition Mercedes Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series. Judging from its performance and body-kit, it is a second generation 'CLK DTM' in all but its name.
First handed out last year, the Louis Vuitton Classic Award is given to the 'best' classic car that took a best in show in one of a series of events in Europe and the United States. After the 2005 Pebble winning Delage D8 taking the first LVC Award last year, the second edition was won by this fabulous 250 GT California Spyder. The stunning machine is currently in the caring hands of marque expert Marcel Massini in preparation for next week's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este where it is one of the big contenders for the prizes. Of course we will be on the scene to capture all of the action of this highly exclusive concours.
In an attempt to get double the power using existing parts, Vittorio Jano installed two engines side by side to form the quite remarkable Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto. It was raced throughout the 1931 season, but was more often than not slowed down with technical problems. Using the lessons learned, Jano then went on to design the Tipo B or P3 for 1932, considered by many as one of the finest Grand Prix machines ever made.
Next weekend the Gulf colours will be prominently featured during the Monza 1000km; the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series. Sporting the legendary livery this season is the Zytek 07S/2 of Barazi Epsilon racing, which impressed straight out of the box at Paul Ricard two weeks ago.

Henri Pescarolo is one of the most successful drivers ever at Le Mans and in his long career he won the legendary race four times. Even though he hung up his bright green helmet a few years ago, he has been back for every race as an entrant. Especially in the most recent editions, his team formed the only real opposition to Audi, despite working with only a fraction of the budget. This past winter a new chapter was added to the Pescarolo book as the French hero has evolved from 'just' a Le Mans entrant to a racing car manufacturer. To celebrate this momentous occasion we take a look a three of Pescarolo's machines.
In the most recent Le Mans races, the Pescarolo Sport team used the Pescarolo Courage C60 Hybrid, finishing second to an Audi on both occasions. Even more impressive was the team's 2006 Le Mans Series season, which saw the single car entered take five wins out of five attempts. This was due to the truly flawless performance of both the drivers and the car. It will be replaced this season by the Pescarolo LMP1, which will be used by both the factory and Rollcentre teams. At its first serious test, the two Pescas present finished second and fourth. As a driver, Pescarolo will always be associated with the Matra Le Mans effort. This is not without reason as he drove their V12-engined machines to victory for three years running between 1972 and 1974. His final Matra win was scored with the featured Matra MS670B.

Later this week the doors of the Javits Center in Manhattan will open its doors for the New York International Auto Show. Although the media day is still a few days away, we have received previews of various manufacturers over the weekend. In recent years the Big Apple show has hosted the introduction of a special edition Mustang and this year is no exception with the 540 bhp GT500KR. The limited to 1000 special edition model celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the original 'King of the Road', launched in New York in 1967. Big rival Chevrolet will focus on the complete opposite end of the spectrum with the introduction of no fewer than three global mini-car concepts. Customers can vote on a special internet site which one they want to see produced. One of these is the Trax Concept. Nissan and Inifiti look set to grab headlines with three major releases. The most interesting is no doubt the Infiniti G37 Coupe. As it names suggests it packs a 3.7 litre version of the familiar V6 engine and insiders expect the highly anticipated Nissan Skyline to be based off the G37. Still using the 3.5 litre V6 is the updated 350Z of which the top of the line Nismo model will debut in New York. Joining the G37 on the Infiniti stand will be the EX Concept.
At last week's Paul Ricard tests many new cars made their first public appearance and track miles and today we would like to look at two of them. First up is the Courage LC70 AER, which will be used by the Works team. This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans race will be Courage's 25th and there is a good chance that the team will once again be among the top runners. A completely new addition to the endurance racing field was the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT2, prepared by the Danish Markland Racing team. It looks absolutely fabulous, but will need some more work to really be competitive against the seasoned machines.