In 2008 Lola celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, and the racing car manufacturer does so in great style with the introduction of two new sports racing cars. Grabbing the most headlines is the Aston Martin engined B08/60, but more likely to succeed is the B08/80 Judd. Designed for the LMP2 class, the coupe is the replacement for the car that won its class at Le Mans three years running. Among the many racing cars produced by Lola in the past half a century, there were only very few fixed head examples. One of the most famous is probably the T70 Mk3.
Saleen is also celebrating this year; its 25th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, they will built just 25 examples of the Sterling. Powered by a 620 bhp engine, it is one of the most powerful Mustang based production cars ever. In Europe Chevrolet will celebrate its racing successes with a limited edition Corvette Competition Lighter than the regular production car, it is only available in one specification and colour. Continuing with the special models, Seat kicks off the BTCC season with the Leon FR550 of which 550 examples will be built.
Spring is in the air, so we take a closer look at two of the finest open sports cars of the 50s and 60s. Probably the most valuable BMW ever produced, the 507 is still an inspiration for the current designs of the company. Shortly after Honda started producing automobiles they launched the S800, which combines a high revving engine with fine handling.
After last year's success, RM Auctions will once again host an auction in Maranello this May. One of the absolute highlights will be this Ferrari 246 S Fantuzzi Spyder.

In the early 1970s Porsche first discovered the potential of turbocharged engines with the incredible 917 based Can-Am cars. Only a few years later the 911 Turbo (930) road car was produced. In good Porsche tradition it formed the basis for a new generation of racing cars known as the 934 (Group 4) and 935 (Group 5). In the second half of the decade they completely dominated GT-racing on both sides of the Atlantic in the hands of the factory team as well as many privateers. Porsche and also third parties built a large number of different versions of the 935. Today we take a look at two of the most extreme.
Surprisingly one of the most successful 935s was not built by Porsche, but by the Kremer brothers. Dubbed the 935 K3, their 935 won every major endurance race outright including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite being based on a production road car, it was fast enough around the Nordschleiffe to have qualified on the grid for the last Formula 1 race held on the legendary German track. The reason for the success was the flat six engine that was developed to produce well over 700 bhp in race trim. The success of the K3 convinced Porsche to cease 935 production and instead supply the parts to the Kremers.
Not nearly as well known is the 935 2.0 'Baby', which was built to make a point. Powered by a tiny version of the six cylinder engine, it competed in the the 2 litre class of the German endurance racing championship. The unique machine was raced only twice as it was retired after Porsche showed the 935 could win even in a class where most believed it was too large and heavy for.

Spring is in the air and we felt it was time to restyle the site slightly. Our focus has been on readability and with larger fonts and a revised spec table, you should notice a clear improvement. For our loyal Supporting Members we have added a brand new Printer Friendly feature. This enables you to download the car articles as a PDF brochure for easy reading and printing. More information on our Premium Subscriptions can be found here, for a sample of the Printer Friendly PDF files please click here and for questions or comments there is a dedicated thread in our forums.
BMW's greatest pre-War racing success was winning the 1940 'Mille Miglia' with the 328 MM Touring Berlinetta. After having raced at Le Mans and in the Mille Miglia, the car was used for many years as a daily driver and has only recently been bought back by BMW and fully restored. Built around the same time, but not nearly as successful is the ERA E-Type. There was plenty of potential in the mini-Mercedes W154, but some major design flaws ever prevented it from achieving any notable results. Soon after the hostilities in Europe were over, Talbot Lago launched the T26 model; arguably the last of the great French luxury cars. In this update we take a look at a beautiful Figoni & Falaschi Cabriolet.
In our New York International Auto Show feature last week, we missed a few interesting cars; the KIA Koup Concept, the Saleen Gurney Signature Edition and the Suzuki Kizaschi 3 Concept.
Porsches have always been popular with tuners and in the last few years some very extreme examples were produced. At Essen late in 2007 we caught up with two of the most exciting; the 987 bhp 9ff GT9 and the Carrera GT based Gemballa Mirage GT.

This week all eyes in the automotive world are on New York, where the annual Auto Show kicked off. Without a doubt the name Saleen will be mentioned in every report on the show. A few days before the company founder Steve Saleen introduced his new SMS Limited company, while on the actual show floor his former company took the wraps off the S5S Raptor. Developed by the people that were behind the current generation of American supercars like the Ford GT and the Saleen S7, the new S5S promises even better performance. Destined to hit the show room floors in 2010, the high tech machine comes equipped with a supercharged V8 engine that produces 650 bhp and runs on E85. Despite its startling performance figures, it is priced at a relatively modest $185,000.
Somewhat in the shadow of the bright yellow Saleen the mainstream manufacturers also introduced some interesting production and concept cars. Ford is looking to revolutionize the taxi industry with the Transit Connect Taxi Concept, which is up to 30% more efficient and up to 90% cleaner than the taxis used today in cities like New York. The environment also took center stage at Nissan where the electric engined Denki Cube Concept was shown. Scion seems set to expand their range and offered a preview in the form of the Hako Concept.
The most exciting new production cars on show were the Pontiac Solstice Coupe and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Both of these cars should greatly appeal to the fans of rear wheel drive sportscars.

Even though the doors of the Geneva Motorshow have barely closed, manufacturers are already releasing information of new cars. The biggest news to hit our desk was the Alfa Romeo Mi.To. Representing a completely new model in the Italian company's range, it is the long overdue replacement for the Junior of old. The small car takes cues from the irresistible 8C Competizione and the name is an abbreviation of the two Italian car cities Milan and Turin.
The next major show on the agenda will be held in New York later this month. General Motors will introduce a revised Pontiac G8, which include a new top of the range model. Dubbed the G8 GXP, this four door saloon is powered by the same 400 bhp V8 engine as found in the current Corvette. Scion will show the Haku Coupe Concept, a sporty interpretation of the box concept.
Roush has stepped up and developed the GT even further for British supercar specialist Avro Motor Cars. Limited to ten examples, the Avro 720 Mirage is powered by a 720 bhp version of the V8 engine and should be able to accelerate past the 350 km/h barrier.
Endurance racing is quickly gaining popularity with manufacturers and racing teams and this year quite a few of them have developed new cars. Making quite an impression at Paul Ricard two weeks ago was the Creation CA07 AIM, which clocked the fastest time behind the two Audis. The Japanese Dome has spent the winter developing their first all new car since 2001, aptly dubbed the S102. It has not yet been tested, but we have expectations of this beautiful coupe prototype. After racing the C8 Spyder for three seasons, Spyker will field the slightly revised C8 Laviolette GT2-R this year.

Over the past sixty years Porsche has produced dozens of racing cars. Very few of these were not successful and even less were built with the help of a third party. One of the rare exceptions to the latter is the 356B Abarth GTL, which as the name suggests was built by Austrian born Italian Carlo Abarth. Porsche turned to Abarth in 1960 after their own racing version of the production based 356B started to fall behind the (Italian) competition. In the previous years Abarth had shown that he could turn far less exotic machinery than Porsche's twin-cam 356 into race winners. On the track the slippery and very light Porsche Abarth more than matched the high expectations. The car proved to be a winner straight out of the box and dominated the 1.6 and 2 litre categories for several year. It scored no fewer than three straight class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite the machine's fantastic track record, Porsche severed the ties with Abarth before the first 20 examples of a proposed 40 were built. Reasons for canceling the contract were the constant delays and concerns over the poor fit and finish of the bodies, which were not built by Zagato as Porsche expected and historians believed for a long time. Having learned their lesson, Porsche started the development of a whole new generation of racing cars that were as light and slippery as the Italian creations, but with German quality.
Our detailed feature gives an in depth account of the Porsche Abarth's history and is well illustrated with imagery from no fewer than four surviving examples.

Earlier this month the European endurance season kicked off with the annual Le Mans Series test at the Paul Ricard High Speed Test Track in the south of France. Owned by Bernie Ecclestone and built to the absolute latest standards, the track has by far the best facilities to test a racing car.
Our reporters always fly out to the 'Cote d'Azur' to enjoy the pleasant weather and of course capture a first glimpse of what the new season has to offer. We found that the Le Mans Series in 2008 has made a major step forward. Most importantly is of course the addition of Audi to the grid, which will ensure close fights for overall victory for the first time in many years. The organizers have also made progress in making the races more accessible for the spectators in the grandstands and the TV viewers at home.
The official test gives the teams the opportunity to see where they are at and/or to debut their brand new racing car. This year the eyes were on the new Lola Coupes, the European debut of the Porsche RS Spyder and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage test mule. Our findings of the two day event have formed the basis for our 2008 Le Mans Series preview, illustrated with a spectacular 150-shot slideshow. We will probably attend three of the five Le Mans Series races this season and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so you'll remain well informed of the European sports car racing scene.

Although mentioned only briefly in our Geneva Motorshow report, we were quite taken by the two sports cars displayed by former Pininfarina head of design Ken Okuyama. Dubbed the k.o 7 Spider and k.o 8 Coupe, the two cars feature the same chassis, although they look quite different. Production is set to commence later in the year and the exquisite machines are expected to retail for a staggering $250.000. Okuyama's minimalistic cars probably come closest to the current Lotus line-up. This was expanded at Geneva with the 225 bhp, range topping Europa SE. Further road car debuts include the limited production Jaguar XKR-S, Bugatti Veyron 16-4 Fbg and the Zagato styled Bentley Continental GTZ. Destined for mass production is the Volkswagen Scirocco, which made its return to Geneva 34 years after the original Scirocco was introduced.
As always there was plenty of display space reserved on the Palexpo show floor for concept cars. This Saab 9-X BioPower Hybrid was chosen as the best concept car of the show. Renault also unveiled a very interesting concept; the Megane Coupe, which might be pitched against the Scirocco in the future. Another former Pininfarina stylist, Leonardo Fioravanti, is a regular fixture at Geneva and this year he showed the Hidra. Like many of his previous show cars, the Hidra again features cutting edge, Fioravanti patented technology.

Most of the supercar manufacturers launched only new versions of existing models in Geneva, but Lamborghini and Spyker went a little further. Although similar at first sight to their current offerings, both unveiled two completely new cars.
The Italian manufacturer took the wraps off the Gallardo LP560-4, which as the name suggests packs a 560 bhp punch. The 'baby-Lambo' has been overhauled inside and out, but most attention is grabbed by the revised V10 engine. Enlarged to 5.2 litre, it is equipped with direct fuel injection. Despite producing over 40 additional horses, the Italian engineers have managed to cut consumption and emissions by a whopping 18%.
The last car presented on the first press day was the Spyker C8 Aileron and it was well worth the wait. For the first time the Dutch company has moved away from the design language that was first launched at the 2000 Birmingham Motor Show. Nevertheless the Aileron is still easily recognizable as a Spyker. Complying with the wishes of the customers, the new V8 engined machine comes with a longer wheelbase, an optional automatic gearbox and a cutting edge sound system. The model line will be completed with an open version, which will be shown to the public for the first time at Pebble Beach in August.

For many in the automotive industry the annual Geneva Motor Show is the highlight of the calendar. More than any other show, it brings together the mainstream manufacturers and the more exclusive low volume brands. This year's edition did not escape the ongoing environmentally friendly trend, but at long last some real progress is made with more frugal production cars and more advanced solutions for a next generation of green machines. Appealing more to the enthusiasts were the many new releases from sportscar manufacturers and design houses. Among the many highlights were the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, Spyker C8 Aileron, Pininfarina Sintesi Concept and Italdesign Quaranta Concept built to celebrate the company's fortieth anniversary.
The show will open its door for the general public tomorrow, but our photographers have had access for the past two days and captured every highlight in great detail. Our findings and impressions have been compressed in a brief report and a packed 260-shot slideshow, published straight from the show floor.
All of the newly debuted machines will be featured in greater detail in our upcoming updates. However we feel confident that our report will keep you busy until then.

Today the European sports car racing season kicked off with the first of days of testing at Paul Ricard. This 'official test' of the Le Mans Series welcomed back seasoned competitors and more interestingly hosted the public debut of many new racing cars. Two of the most anticipated newcomers are powered by Aston Martin engines. Still under development is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2, which sees the British manufacturer branch out into the smaller of the two GT classes. The car at Paul Ricard was still the test mule and the customers will have to wait just a little longer to take delivery of their Porsche and Ferrari challenger. The big surprise of the winter season was the announcement of an Aston Martin engined Lola coupe. At Paul Ricard the highly anticipated V12 engined B08/60 proved quick straight out of the box. In addition to these two brand new GT2 and LMP1 racing cars, the newly independent manufacturer will race in GT1, GT3 and GT4 in 2008. Our full report will be published in due and will serve as a preview for what promises to be a very exciting Le Mans Series season.
Immediately after Paul Ricard we will head off to Geneva for the Motor Show to capture cars of a slightly different kind. At the Swiss show, the Giugiaro / Italdesign styling center will celebrate their 40th anniversary in great style with the Quaranta Concept. Although a thoroughly modern design, it shares several cues with the Bizzarrini Manta, which was Italdesign's very first concept car. Our report from the show will be published from the show floor on Wednesday.
This past Friday, the Melbourne International Motor Show opened its doors for press and public. One of the biggest stars was the Holden Coupe 60 Concept, built to commemorate the company's 60th anniversary.