When we learned of the engine-freeze effective in Formula 1 from this season, we could not help but think about the Cosworth DFV engine and smile a little. First introduced in 1967, this compact V8 did not need an engine-freeze to stay competitive for over a dozen seasons. It inspired us to put three very different machines in the limelight that all use the DFV and have brought at least one World Championship to their respective drivers. Not only did it score 155 GP wins, it also impressed in endurance racing highlighted by a pair of Le Mans wins.
In 1967 the Cosworth engine was introduced in the back of the Lotus 49, but it came too late to be a force in that year's championship. The engine did make its mark by clinching eleven consecutive pole positions from its Dutch GP introduction. With the Lotus 49B used the following season, the Cosworth engine took its first Championship title.
Some five years later McLaren introduced the M23, which finally brought the British team to the forefront of Formula. It was used by Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt to score their respective 1974 and 1976 World Championship titles. Our gallery includes shots of four different examples, including the first example, painted in the rare Yardley livery.
By the early 1980s the naturally aspirated V8 was struggling to keep up with the turbo engines, but remained competitive due to its impeccable reliability. Thanks to the unbreakable V8 Keijo Rosberg managed to win the 1982 driver's championship with the Williams FW08. It was the final championship for the successful powerplant, which has a racing record that is unlikely to be ever matched.

The European and American endurance racing championships are now pretty much halfway through the season and currently lay dormant with everybody focusing on next month's big one; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On each side of the Atlantic there is one car that really sticks out. In Europe we have seen the very impressive debut of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, which took convincing victories in the first two Le Mans Series races. The French manufacturer still tries to talk down the diesel powered machine's chances at Le Mans, but the new machine's performance makes Peugeot them the prime contender to Audi's crown. It looks like pace will not be a concern, but more so the reliability as at each race only one of the cars had a trouble-free run and at a recent long distance test the engine ceased after just 18 hours of running. Our money is still on the Audi R10, but Peugeot could very surprise us once again.
Having already faced the Audi R10 and beaten it on several occasions is the Porsche RS Spyder, which has won the last three American Le Mans Series races. Built to race in the 'slower' LMP2 class, the new for 2007 Porsche seems to have no trouble at all keeping up with the more powerful, but heavier Audi. Like the brutal 917/30 Porsches of old, the current Porsche giant-killers are entered by the highly successful Penske team. Unfortunately, they will not bring the rapid racer over to Europe for Le Mans as there are still niggling reliability issues that also hampered the car earlier this year at Sebring.

This year Ferrari celebrates its 60th anniversary with a whole host of festivities. Today its time for us to put a Ferrari model in the limelight that set the world on fire exactly 50 years ago; the 250 GT TDF '14 Louver' Berlinetta. It is also the 200th Ferrari added to our extensive database. The so called '14 Louver' model was the very first to bear the now legendary Tour de France name and it did it justice by winning the Tour de France in 1957. Nine examples were produced and most have a rich racing history; together they won their class in almost every major race in the 1957 and also scored many scratch victories.
To celebrate 60 years of Ferrari and 'our' 200th Ferrari, we have assembled a sparkling gallery with thirty shots of five of the nine examples produced. There is also a detailed chassis by chassis history of the pictured cars, assembled with the help of Ferrari historian Marcel Massini. Among the featured cars is the chassis that won the 1957 Tour de France and finished third in the last Mille Miglia, behind two Ferrari sportscars. It was sold last year for a staggering $5 million.
This weekend's RM Auctions' "Ferrari - Leggenda e Passione" was a massive success with all but one of the lots finding a new owner. The Ferrari 330 TRI/LM was sold for � 6,875,000, reaffirming its status as the most expensive Ferrari ever auctioned. It is also the second highest price ever paid for a motor car during an auction.

Volkswagen took the world by surprise with the Golf GTi W12 Concept unveiled last week at a big VW enthusiast event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the GTi. As its name suggests, the Golf silhouette packs a W12 engine, which has been turbocharged for the occasion and produces 650 bhp. The W12 is mounted amidships, making this Golf one of the most insane vehicles ever produced by the usually so sensible Germans. The German madness does not stop here as Audi released images and details of the 300 bhp TT Clubsport Concept. It is derived from the current TT Roadster, but sports a chopped down front window. What Germany is much better known for are the big, heavy and luxurious grand tourers. One of the first of these 'Tuetonic' machines was the Mercedes Benz 500 K. The featured example has been beautifully restored and is equipped with a Cabriolet C body.
Earlier this month it was exactly 25 years ago that Gilles Villeneuve had his fatal crash at Zolder. At that time he finally looked to really challenge for the World Championship again after several years of driving inferior machines. A first sign of the good things to come were two wins during the 1981 season with the Ferrari 126 CK.
At the end of the 1990s various companies were busy working on a design for a Diablo replacement. The most unusual of these was the Heuliez Pregunta, which combine an airplane inspired design with cutting edge electronics.

In the second half of the 1930s, the French coachbuilders reached their artistic peak. Names like Chapron, Pourtout and Saoutchick still make many automotive enthusiasts' hearts skip a beat, but they all had and have to play second fiddle to the creations of Joseph Figoni. Together with business partner Ovidio Falaschi, Figoni created some of the most elegant machines ever, highlighted by his legendary 'Teardrop' shape. He was greatly helped by the advent of the underslung chassis, which allowed for much lower bodies. At the 1936 Auto Salon in Paris, Figoni & Falaschi debuted their very first 'Teardrop' fitted on the featured Delahaye 135 Competition Court chassis. There is hardly a straight line on the short and relatively wide coupe design that was inspired by the drawings of artist Geo Ham. The form was later perfected for the Talbot Lago Teardrops.
Alongside the Coupe, Figoni & Falaschi also showed an equally curvaceous Delahaye 135 roadster at the 1936 Auto Salon with more elegant lines than those on the coupe. In 1938 a similar design was turned into metal for a Portuguese client to be fitted on this Talbot Lago T150C S chassis. Like the Delahaye, the Talbot Lago featured underslung suspension, but it benefited from a more powerful four litre engine with a Hemi head. The strikingly beautiful Talbot sports one of the most evocative paintschemes we have ever seen.

The summer is approaching quickly; a great time to launch a convertible. Mercedes Benz and Porsche agreed and last week released the first details of drop-top versions of their top models. Mercedes Benz will attempt to boost the sales of the ill-performing SLR with the SLR McLaren Roadster, which follows the design of the original convertible concept car launched back in 1999. Porsche continues the roll-out of the 997 model of the 911 with the 997 Turbo Convertible. As the first brand new Civic Type Rs hit Europe, Honda in Japan launched the sedan version of Civic Type R. This version features an even more powerful engine, but will most likely remain a domestic model only.
In his brief spell as a racing car manufacturer, Jim Hall built several ground breaking machines. These Chaparrals were always well ahead of their time, especially when it came to aerodynamics. Today we take a look at the last of these 'white wonders'; the Chaparral 2J, or 'sucker car'. As the name suggest the car was sucked to the ground by two snowmobile engines, giving it a huge edge over its competition. It was banned at the end of the 1970 season and its career spawned just four races in which it recorded two pole positions and one fastest lap. Another short-lived racer was the Ferrari 330TRI/LM, built specifically to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1962. It did so and has gone into the history books as the last front-engined winner of the legendary race. The unique machine will be auctioned later this week during RM Auctions' "Ferrari - Leggenda E Passione" sale in Maranello, Italy.
British racing car manufacturer Zytek impressed greatly during last week's Valencia 1000 km race with their brand new 07S. It was the fastest petrol car by quite a distance and was heading for a podium finish if it wasn't for two throttle cable failures.

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary next year, Lola is one of the most successful independent racing car manufacturers. The company's cars have secured victories in a wide variety of events like the Indy 500, the CanAm Series and Formula 1. Arguably the most famous of all Lolas is the T70, which was raced in a variety of evolutions, with and without a roof. This week we're taking a closer look at the final evolution; the T70 Mk3B Coupe that raced in the 1969 and 1970 seasons. It took a victory in the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours, but its days were numbered when the much more powerful Porsche 917 debuted. One of the T70 Coupe's biggest assets was the advanced body design, which was very stable at high speeds. Porsche struggled with the very tricky 917 until a T70-like bodywork was adopted. Originally only 16 examples were constructed, but several more were built in the late 1970s and last year production commenced once more. Today the T70 is a highly successful historic racer, scoring victories and receiving admiring looks wherever they go. We have compiled a detailed history and a sparkling 24-shot gallery with four different examples pictured in action around Europe.
One of the T70's biggest problems was the lack of a proper racing engine to match the high tech chassis and aerodynamics. To this day Lola chassis have to rely on engines supplied by specialized companies that rarely have the resources to develop them to the extent of the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Audi. Since this past weekend's Valencia 1000 km race, there is one notable exception; the Swiss Spirit Lola B07/10 Audi. This LMP1 prototype racer comes equipped with the direct injected and turbocharged V8 engine straight out of the multiple Le Mans winning R8. Although it did not prove to be a winner straight out of the box, it should give Lola the best chance in years for the major success the company deserves.

Three weeks after the season kicked off at Monza, the Le Mans Series sprung back into action for the second round; the Valencia 1000 km. With a packed entry list and the tight and twisty nature of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, it looked set to become an eventful race. There were several new machines making their racing debut with the new Swiss Spirit Lola the most prominent; it is the first-ever independent chassis powered by the all-conquering Audi R8 engine. It's part of Audi's attempt to proove that the rules really don't favour diesel engines. As part of the support program, the Classic Endurance Racing series was present. The colourful variety of BMW M1s, Lolas, Chevrons and a Ford GT40 gave a unique insight into endurance racing of day's past.
Although the 1000 km race started off tame, there was plenty of action later on in the race with several damaging incidents. In both the LMP2 and GT2 class there were lead changes in the final stages of the race, some as a result of the aforementioned incidents. Our photographers ventured to a very sunny Valencia and have come back with an in-depth report and an exclusive 160-shot slideshow. The report also includes a summary of the diesel vs. petrol situation.

Ferrari's 250 TR is one of the most successful sports racing cars in history and made its debut fifty years ago. It and its derivatives have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four years and the Testa Rossa name is one of Ferrari's most famous. To commemorate this golden anniversary, we take a closer look at the 250 TR Prototipo, which has recently been completely restored and sports some unique features.
Making the best even better sounds like a difficult thing, but it's what tuning companies are usually up to. Roush worked their magic on Ford's GT to create the 600RE. Packing a 600 bhp V8, it's available in a limited run of just ten cars. Frank Rinderknecht builds funky concept cars, but he's been known to produce some very serious machines as well. His latest is the 911 Turbo based Rinspeed Le Mans 600, which also sees the power boosted to 600 bhp. Chevrolet didn't need third party assistance to improve the performance of their top of the range model and have announced the 2008 model Corvette. Compared to the previous model, power is up by 30 bhp. Mitsubishi have finally released the first shots of the upcoming EVO X, which not surprisingly is very similar to the Detroit concept car.
Over the last few months we have been gradually adding wallpapers to our exclusive wallpaper section and to help you keep track of the changes we have now clearly indicated the additions of the last two months on the first page.
A mere three weeks after kicking off at Monza, the Le Mans Series will run its second race of the season this weekend at Valencia. To stay organized in the Series we have created a dedicated 2007 Le Mans Series section with a full entry list and the latest standings. You can expect a full report of the weekend's proceedings on Monday or visit the Valencia track to really get in the thick of things.