This weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed will celebrate 'Racing Revolutions � Quantum leaps that shaped motor sport'. One of the many revolutionary machines that will line up for the event is this Chaparral 2J Chevrolet that starred briefly in the 1970 Canadian-American Challenge Cup. What set it apart from the rest of the field was a small snowmobile engine that literally sucked the air from under the car. As a result the 'sucker-car' generated a huge amount of downforce without the drag penalty usually created by wings. Vic Elford managed to put the car on pole but in the races the snowmobile's poor reliability proved the car's achilles heel. At the end of the year the Chaparral 2J was banned and the innovative manufacturer left Can-Am. Elford will be back behind the wheel of the ground-breaking this weekend. Jim Hall and Chaparral returned in 1979 with this 2K Cosworth Indy racer. Bringing ground-effect aerodynamics to the 'Brickyard', it was driven to victory in the 1980 Indy 500 by Johnny Rutherford. Celebrating the 500's centenary, the Texan will also be at Goodwood in the 2K as well as in the McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser, which he piloted to his first win in 1974.
Another convention defying racer is this Huron 4A, which is the only car of its type fitted with the Variomatic gearbox and was showcased by the inventor's grandson at Goodwood last year. He will be back this weekend with a slightly earlier Formula 3 Tecno fitted with a similar continuously variomatic transmission (CVT). When Williams later tried a CVT gearbox in 1993, it made their dominant car even faster and the FIA were quick to ban the system. The Huron was successfully raced and secured the 1972 Belgian Hillclimb Championship.

This weekend the stunning Pikes Peak mountain in Colorado was once again the host of the annual hill-climb race. Steeped in tradition, the event is facing changes due to the surfacing of the 20 km road up the mountain. This year represented the final time that the event was run using partly unpaved sections and in addition to taking the outright win, the target was the magical 10-minute barrier. Both were achieved by the defending champion Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima with his Suzuki SX4 Monster Sport Pikes Peak Special. This very extreme machine features a 900 bhp engine mounted amidships in a bespoke steel spaceframe. Tajima's fastest time was a mind-boggling 9:51.278.
Specifically for the July 2nd wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock, Lexus have created this LS 600h L Landaulet. The most striking feature is the glass dome that covers the rear section of the car and offers the occupants a perfect view out of the car and the spectators a similar view into the car.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed always attracts a host of Grand Prix racers, ranging from the earliest leviathans to the latest Formula 1 cars. While the newest cars are no longer gunning for the quickest times, the classic examples are still going for it. Last year Roger Wills set the fastest time of the weekend in his Williams FW05 Cosworth. This unique machine was the only example made during the 1976, joining two former Hesketh 308Cs in the Walter Wolf backed Williams stable. These two have been converted back to Hesketh trim, making this car the sole FW05 in existence today. Of a slightly newer vintage is the Alfa Romeo 182 F1 that also starred at Goodwood in 2010 as part of the centenary celebrations of the Italian manufacturer. It was one of the last naturally aspirated Formula 1 cars built before all teams switched to forced induction engines. By contrast this Benetton B188 Ford was one of the first of a new generation of naturally aspirated cars anticipating the 1989 ban of turbos. Faced with the all-conquering McLaren MP4/4, it was in close competition with the 1988 Ferrari for the best of the rest position.
Formula 1 cars will no doubt star again at Goodwood this coming weekend with a majority of the current teams and drivers committed to demonstrating their machinery. Tickets are only available ahead of the event on the Goodwood Website.

At this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mazda's historic victory 20 years earlier was extensively celebrated. This was the first and only victory for a Japanese car and for the rotary engine. Highlight of the celebrations was the return to the track of the winning 787B for two demonstration runs in the hands of actor Patrick Dempsey and original driver Johnny Herbert respectively. It was the first time in some years that the prized car emerged from the Mazda museum and before returning to the track it was carefully restored to full running order.
Needless to say this was our first encounter with the 1991 Le Mans winner and it prompted us to take a much closer look at the machine's remarkable history. At the time it was considered a surprise and even fluke victory but there was a lot more to it than that. In fact the win was more the result of careful preparation and the execution of a well thought out plan than actual luck. A vital part was played by the three drivers, who managed to run at a very competitive pace without burning too much of the available fuel.
All this and much more can be found in our detailed article, illustrated by a 12-shot gallery, featuring pictures of the car in action as well as its fabulous rotary engine.
For those of you that missed the 787B's glorious howl at Le Mans, there will be another opportunity this coming weekend as the Mazda will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for which tickets are still available.

On the eve of this weekend's Nurburgring 24 Hours, BMW have released the most extreme M3 yet. Dubbed the CRT for Carbon Racing Technology, it features an abundance of carbon-fibre composite parts. This has resulted in a weight saving of about 70 kg (154 lbs) compared to the standard M3 Sedan. Power comes from the same 4.4 litre V8 that is also used for the GTS version of the M3 Coupe. Its 450 hp is fed to the rear wheels through a seven-speed, double clutch automatic gearbox. The car's top speed is limited at 290 km/h (180 mph). Production for the M3 CRT is believed to be limited to just 67 examples, all of which will be finished in 'frozen silver'.
One of the hundreds of participants in the race will be this MINI John Cooper Works Coupe Endurance. Following hot on the heels of the road car announced earlier this week, this mildly tweaked racer features a 250 bhp version of the direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Large stickers and an even bigger rear wing are also part of the 'Endurance' package.
In addition to its entrants in the 24-hour race, Toyota has also brought this GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II. Loosely based on a MR2, this oddly named machine has been created by GAZOO Racing. They have managed to cram a V6 in the engine compartment, which is aided by a 50 hp electric motor that drives the front wheels. The combined output of this hybrid system is 295 bhp. The car is clothed in a brand new body with a very striking design. It is not known if there production plans for the GRMN but it would certainly make an interesting proposition.

As part of this week's Salon Prive in London, RM Auctions will host an all British sale tomorrow. The catalog includes some fabulous lots from all of the country's most famous marques. One of the absolute highlights is this Rolls-Royce Phantom I Barker Sports Tourer. It was the first of four experimental cars built to explore the possibilities of a sportier version of the very formal Phantom. Accordingly it was fitted with a Tourer body by Barker that was unusually rakish for Rolls-Royce standards. The car was extensively tested and retained as a factory demonstrator until 1931. As far as we know, tomorrow's RM Auctions sale represents the first public offering of '10EX' in nearly five decades.
Rivaling auctioneer Bonhams will pull out all the stops next week for the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed sale. Around 100 cars are entered and the supporting 'automobilia' section features some very interesting book lots. One of the most interesting car lots is one of just two Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Cabriolets. Chassis LML/506 was originally sold to a Californian enthusiast and is a veteran of the 1955 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where it placed third in class. Coincidentally we captured the sister car (LML/504) a few years ago at Pebble as well. The example that will cross the block during the Festival of Speed has been completely restored in recent years, so is still eligible for all the major shows. Among its former owners was former Grand Prix racer, the late Innes Ireland.
Following the release of pictures of a subtly camouflaged example, MINI have now shared the full details of the new Coupe. A strict two-seater, the very compact machine will be the fifth model in the MINI line-up. One of the more striking features is the hydraulically actuated rear wing that pops up at speeds over 50 mph (80 km/h). In John Cooper Works trim, the new Coupe is capable of a sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.4 seconds and will have a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h).

One of the main themes of the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed will be Jaguar in general and the E-Type in particular. The legendary model celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year and will star on the annual 'installation' placed in front of the Goodwood House. There will also be a special class in the Cartier Style et Luxury Concours d'Elegance for the E-Type. Another anniversary celebrated will be Jaguar's first Le Mans victory sixty years ago.
Among the many E-Types expected at Goodwood is the Lightweight Low Drag Coupe. Of the two examples featured, one is a familiar sight for Goodwood visitors as it has competed in the Revival TT race during the past few years. The other was involved in a fatal crash back in 1964 and has only very recently been restored to its former glory. The mangled bodywork alone took over 5,000 hours to restore and amazingly over 90% of the original metal was saved. We captured this, the 'Lindner/Nocker' Lighweight, at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, where its beautiful lines were admired by all. The owner confirmed that this example will definitely be part of the E-Type celebrations at Goodwood and it would surprise us if the other will not join it. That would be the first time the two E-Type Lightweight Low Drag Coupes will be reunited since 1964.
The organisers hope to have one example of every racing Jaguar present from the early C-Types to the TWR built XJRs that dominated sports car racing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among them will be this XJR-14, which secured the 1991 World Championship for the British manufacturer. From its appearance last year, we have added a very detailed 18-shot gallery.
The dates for the 2011 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed are June 30 - July 3rd and tickets are still available. They can be ordered only on the official Goodwood website and are not sold at the gate, so if you want to join the fun, do pre-order your tickets. For those of you who can not make it, we will of course publish a detailed report in the days after the event.

After a few weeks dominated by Le Mans racers and modern road cars, it is now time to slow down and take a look at two glorious French machines from the late 1930s. During this period the many specialist coach-builders reached new artistic highs and produced one rolling sculpture after another like the Delage and Talbot Lago featured today.
Styled by Georges Paulin, this Delage D8-120 made its public debut at the 1938 Paris Auto Salon. It was subsequently sold to a French wine farmer, who used it extensively on the roads between Paris and Bordeaux. Sadly the striking machine eventually ended up on its side in a field. In 1989 it was discovered and fully restored to its original configuration. We captured the Pourtout Coupe at the recent Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
Lined up alongside the Delage was this Talbot Lago T23, which is one of seventeen chassis by this French manufacturer fitted with Claude Figoni's legendary 'Teardrop' bodywork. This particular example is unique because it combines the smaller engined 'Baby' T23 underpinnings with one of Figoni & Falaschi's finest designs. It was commissioned by flamboyant Standard Oil heiress Beatrice Cartwright, who showed the car with a matching outfit at the 1938 Nice Concours d'Elegance. The current owner's wife sported a replica suit and looked the part alongside the beautiful two-tone machine. Also known as the 'Coupe Royal', the striking Talbot Lago won its class at Villa d'Este, narrowly beating another Delage.

Following the reveal of the M5 Concept at the Auto Shanghai show two months ago, BMW have now released the full details of the new M5 production car. It is based on the current, 'F10' generation of the popular 5-series. As was expected, the new high performance machine will be powered by a version of the twin-turbo V8 that also powers the latest 'M' versions of the X5 and X6. In this application, the sophisticated engine produces a hefty 552 bhp and even more impressively all of its 680 Nm (502 ft lbs) torque at just 1500 rpm. All this brute force is transferred to the rear wheels through a seven speed automatic gearbox that can be operated by paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. In the 'standard' version top speed is limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) but with the 'M Driver's Package' that is increased to 305 km/h (190 mph). Visually many distinct styling cues like the large radiator intake and the quadruple exhausts set the car apart from the rest of the 5-series models. The all-new BMW M5 should become available later in the year.
While we were at Le Mans, Renault unleashed the most potent version of the Megane yet. Dubbed the Renaultsport 265 Trophy, it is built specifically to keep up with high performance models from rivals like Volkswagen. As the name suggests, this very hot hatch is equipped with a 265 hp engine; a 15 hp increase over its predecessor. Torque is also up by 20 Nm (15 ft lbs) to 360 Nm (266 ft lbs). Production of the R.S. 265 Trophy is strictly limited to 500 examples.

In the build-up to this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans, many predicted a close race but few could have imagined just how close it would turn out to be. Both fielding brand new cars, main protagonists Audi and Peugeot were closer on pace than they ever were in their four previous encounters. In qualifying the six works cars were separated by less than sixth tenths of a second and on the line the difference equated to just 0.04 seconds per lap! Behind the battle of top honours there was also a particularly close fight between the Ferraris, Corvettes, BMWs and Porsches in the GTE Pro class. The race proved to be as eventful as it was close with some big crashes, almost all of which fortunately ended without injury. This somewhat overshadowed the news of Sir Stirling Moss hanging his helmet after running a single lap in the practice for the Le Mans Legend support event. Featuring several winning machines, this race was run on Saturday morning and featured a close fight between a Bizzarrini, a Cobra, several Listers and a Ferrari 250 LM.
Our reporters were in the city of Le Mans from Sunday last week to cover the event from the first car that entered scruteneering to the final car that crossed the finish line just over a week later. This has resulted in our largest ever gallery with a mouth-watering 410 shots. This serves to illustrate a report with all the highlights from the event.

After a three day build-up to this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, the action finally commenced on Wednesday with a four hour practice session, followed by a single qualifying session later that evening and two on Thursday evening. While the starting position for the legendary twice round the clock race is not that important, the prestige of pole still encourages teams and drivers to go for it. At the head of the tables it was incredibly tight with the works Audis and Peugeots separated by less than six tenths of a second. The fastest of all was Frenchman Benoit Treluyer, who in the process claimed Audi's first pole at Le Mans since Peugeot arrived on the scene in 2007. With the two big rivals so close on pace, it looks like the race on Saturday and Sunday will be an absolute cracker. In the other classes it was similarly tight with Signatech setting the fastest lap in P2 with their Nissan engined Oreca, the hugely competitive GTE Pro class was dominated by BMW with the works M3s placing first and third, and the GTE Am saw the AF Corse Ferrari F430 taking class pole.
Earlier on Thursday the supporting 'Le Mans Legend' cars took to the track for their one-hour qualifying. The field was a mix of evocative sports racers of the 1950s and '60s and included several class and outright winners like the 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 and 1955 Jaguar D-Type. The big news, however, that Sir Stirling Moss announced his retirement from competition after over 60 years behind the wheel of all sorts of competition cars. He completed one lap in his Porsche RS61 and concluded that he was no longer up to it, pulled into the pitlane and hung up his helmet at the spot. Another historic occurrence was the return to Le Mans of the glorious Mazda 787B that won the race exactly twenty years ago. Yesterday actor Patrick Dempsey drove the howling machine and it will be back out just before the race on Saturday.
All this and much more can be found in our ever growing gallery. At the moment it features 190 shots from the last five days. A full report and a many more images will follow shortly after the race. In the mean time this gallery should you keep you occupied for quite some time.

In the build-up to last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, we posted an in-depth history of the legendary Porsche 935/78 'Moby Dick', which undoubtedly is one of the most extreme production-based machines to have ever raced in the 24 Hour race. In period only one example was raced but as a longtime Porsche racing mechanic once explained us; Porsche tends to build at least two of each racing car. At the recent Spa Classic his words rang true as we were treated to the second of the two 'Moby Dick' chassis built. This example was not actually completed in period but spent most of its life as a bare chassis only. In recent years it was finally built up using correct components, including the trick four-valve engine that set the 'Moby Dick' apart from all other 935s raced during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Spa Classic was probably the very first time a 'Moby Dick' was driven in anger for over three decades. This responsibility was handed to seasoned sports car Stephane Ortelli, who spent most of the weekend finding a proper setup, so did not really get a chance to unleash the 845 bhp available. We managed to get in and out of the car and have added twelve shots to our gallery and additional details on this, the only privately owned 'Moby Dick' in the world.
On a completely unrelated note; the first pictures of the MINI Cooper Coupe. Strictly a two-seater, this is a further expansion of the British company's line-up. Pictured is a prototype with the rear-end still covered in 'camouflage' stickers. The release did feature full details of the choice of engines available. The top-of-the-range model is the John Cooper Works, which is powered by a 211 hp version of the turbocharged 'four'. We believe that in addition to the Coupe, MINI may also launch a Roadster later in the coming months.

On Sunday the Le Mans week kicked off in earnest with the start of scrutineering in the town's city centre. Fittingly the first across the line was the Pescarolo Team's LMP1 machine, honouring the French hero's return to the 24 Hour race after a one-year absence. Peugeot also grabbed headlines by having their drivers arrive on racing bicycles from the city of Chartres, which is nearly 130 km (80 miles) to the North East of Le Mans. There was no real news from the two day session but plenty of great photo opportunities as can be seen in this 60-shot gallery filled with pictures of the drivers, cars and teams.
One of the most highly anticipated teams was Aston Martin Racing after their poor showing during the Official Test six weeks ago. Since then their AMR-One has been further tweaked and extensively tested. The first ground-up racing car design from Prodrive and Aston Martin Racing, is certainly one of the most unconventional of the new prototypes that will line up for the race. Both the aerodynamics and the engine are thoroughly unique and have received mixed results. We have taken a much closer look at the AMR-One, which is illustrated by a 12-shot gallery of the cars in action and many of the unusual and intricate details.
Keep an eye on this page as we will come back with more reports from the track as the action unfolds.

In a relatively quiet week, the motoring news is dominated by the Volkswagen Group, who livened up the annual GTI meet at the Worthersee with three concept cars and today announced the new Audi R8 GT Spyder. Like its fixed-head counterpart, this is a lighter and more powerful version of the 'standard' model. The V10 engine has been tweaked to produce 560 hp and 85 kg (179 lbs) has been shaved off the R8 Spyder's weight. As a result, the drop-top Audi now accelerates to 100 km/h (62 mph) in well under 4 seconds and has a top speed of 317 km/h (197 mph). Production of the R8 GT Spyder is limited to just 333 examples for a base price of 207,800 euros in Germany.
Audi showed an equally potent show car at the Worthersee; the A1 clubsport quattro, which combines the shell of the small A1 hatchback with the modified drivetrain of the TT RS. The result is a dramatically styled, 503 hp pocket rocket. Even more visually appealing was the Skoda Fabia vRS 2000 Concept. Although no figures were released, its name suggests that it uses the 300+ bhp engine of the Fabia S2000 rally car. Volkswagen themselves showcased a Cabriolet version of the top-of-the-range Golf R model. It was still labeled a concept but we will not be surprised if the Golf R Cabriolet will hit the showrooms sooner rather than later.
As part of our coverage of the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, we rush down Highway 1 south of Carmel every year. During this hectic morning we have little time to enjoy the road and scenery but it was hard to miss that this section of the Pacific Coast Highway was something special. In 2010 we made a point of taking a little more time to explore the road in our Ford Taurus SHO. The result is this report, which points out some of Highway 1's finest points in words and pictures.