Porsche celebrate the 50th anniversary of the venerable 911 this year. A considerable amount of the road car's appeal is the unequalled success of the competition versions. It nevertheless took four years after the first production car was introduced before the first factory developed 911 racing car appeared. Dubbed the 911 R, it was considerably lighter and featured a more powerful engine than the road going 911. Sadly, Porsche's sales department feared it could not shift the 500 examples required for homologation and the project was abandoned when only four prototypes and twenty production cars were constructed. As a result, the two dozen 911 Rs built were forced to run in the prototype class against purpose built racing cars. Regardless, the cars did take to the track and set a whole series of world records in a high speed run at Monza. In 1969, Gerard Larousse used one to score outright victories in the Tour de France and the Tour de Corse rallies.
Today, genuine Porsche 911 Rs are a very rare sight, so it was a true highlight of the Monterey car week that we saw three different examples including one of the prototypes and Larousse's Tour de France winning machine. They are pictured in this 27-shot gallery, which serves to illustrate a detailed article about the very first Porsche 911 works racer.

At the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the coveted 'Best of Show' award was won by a Packard for the first time in nearly four decades. The winning car was this unique 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria, which featured an 'Individual Custom' body by Dietrich complete with LeBaron fenders. The one-off was built on the eleventh series V12 chassis and was part of the 1934 Travelling Salon that ran from Detroit to New York. It is believed that just four or five Convertible Victoria bodies were made for this model year, and this is the only one with the teardrop front fenders. Following its show duties, it was sold to a Puerto Rican lawyer and later even served as a taxi on the Caribbean island. Following the recent acquisition by the current owner, it was completely restored by RM. The spectacular result can be seen in this 29-shot gallery.
Spread over two classes, Ferraris were once again strongly represented at Pebble. The winner of the GT / Touring class was this unique 250 Europa GT Scaglietti Berlinetta. Equipped with fourteen louvres in the sail-panel, this Pinin Farina styled show car formed the basis of the subsequent Tour de France competition car. We captured every angle of the car, including the rather striking interior in this exclusive gallery. Another rare machine on display was the final 196 SP Dino produced. This car actually started life with a mid-mounted eight cylinder engine, which was replaced with a V6 before it was sold by the factory. Also part of the Ferrari Competition class was a freshly restored 250 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta, sporting an unusual yet original dark blue paint scheme.

One of the most complicated engines ever built was the BRM H16 produced for the 1966 Formula 1 season when the new three-litre regulations came into force. BRM attempted to cut a few corners by simply merging two of the existing 1.5-litre V8 engines to create a sixteen-cylinder engine with two crankshafts and eight camshafts. Not surprisingly, it was nowhere near as straightforward and the engine proved to be too heavy and very unreliable. It was nevertheless used by both the BRM works team and Team Lotus in the Type 43 BRM. This featured a Maurice Philippe designed monocoque, which used the compact H16 as a fully stressed member. Driven by Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Peter Arundell, the Lotus 43 only managed to reach the finish once in six outings. Thanks to Clark's sheer brilliance that one finish was a win in the 1966 American Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. This remains the only ever victory for the BRM H16 engine. Replaced by the now legendary Type 49, the two examples were modified for use in F5000 complete with a Ford V8 and sold to privateers. The Watkins Glen winning example has now been completely restored. This was a true labour of love and took the better part of eight years. Fortunately the car was ready in time for the recent Goodwood Revival where Jim Clark was celebrated. The current owner demonstrated the restored Lotus 43 BRM, which was the first time a BRM H16-engined Lotus was driven in public since 1967. We captured every detail in our 25-shot gallery, which also includes pictures of the engine in pieces while being rebuilt by experts Hall & Hall a few years ago.

Ahead of the official debut at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show, Porsche have released the first details and pictures of the 911 Turbo Cabriolet. Like the fixed-head counterpart, it will be available with a twin-turbo flat six, which produces 520 hp in 'standard' trim and 560 hp in 'Turbo S' guise. Compared to the outgoing models, they can accelerate to 100 km/h 0.2 seconds faster yet are also 15% more efficient. The Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet will be available in December with a base price in Germany of 174,431 Euro or 207,989 Euro for the Turbo S.
One of Ferrari's most iconic and successful GT racers is best known as the 'Tour de France' or TdF produced in the second half of the 1950s. The various evolutions of the model can be distinguished by the number of 'louvres' in the sail panel. Today we have taken a closer look at the final evolution; the 250 GT TdF '1 Louvre'. With 36 examples produced in 1958 and 1959, this is not the rarest of the breed. Although only raced by privateers this version scored an outright victory at the 1958 Tour de France and a class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a year later. Our brand new 92-shot gallery features images of eight different chassis, which are also described in detail.

By the early 1920s, Duesenberg was a household name on the American racing tracks and the company even famously became the first American manufacturer to win the French Grand Prix with this Duesenberg 183. In an effort to broaden their operation, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg decided to expand their business and develop road cars. Dubbed the Model A, the first road car was directly based on the successful racing cars including the sophisticated overhead camshaft engine, all-round hydraulic brakes and lightweight aluminium bodies. Between 1921 and 1926, Duesenberg produced between 500 and 650 of these beautifully engineered but sadly they have been mostly forgotten as only very few remain and the subsequent Model J continues to grab most of the attention. At the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance we were treated to a pair of the earliest Model As, which were the first two Duesenberg road cars ever sold. The oldest and most spectacular of the two is this Model A Bender Coupe, which today is still owned by a family member of the original owner. The subject of an eight-year restoration, this unique machine was one of the absolute highlights of Pebble. The Model A lined up next to it sported a slightly more understated Fleetwood Phaeton body. In fact this was the very first Phaeton body ever built by Fleetwood.
This morning, at the Singapore Grand Prix, Caterham revealed this AeroSeven Concept. Although shown in concept form, this is a first indication of what is to come in the future from the specialist manufacturer. The all-new body design has been developed in conjunction with the engineers who also work for the Caterham F1 team. The lightweight AeroSeven is powered by a naturally aspirated, 240 hp four cylinder engine.

In the modern era, the coveted 'Best of Show' award at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has always been won by a car built before World War II and 2013 was no exception. However, we felt that this year, there was at least one post-War car that deserved to be among the nominees; the unique Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM Pininfarina Superflow IV. Originally an Alfa Romeo works racer, this car was driven to second in the 1953 Mille Miglia by Juan Manuel Fangio before it was handed to Pininfarina. It was then fitted with four distinct body designs and displayed at major motor shows between 1956 and 1960. The ex-Fangio Alfa Romeo has survived in its fourth and final Pininfarina guise, which incorporates some of the best elements of the previous designs and also had influence on future production cars like the Duetto Spyder. Having served Alfa Romeo and Pininfarina well for nearly a decade, the Superflow IV rather unceremoniously ended up on a used car lot. Fortunately, it was saved and after a long spell in the fabulous Rosso Bianco Museum, it has now been completely restored for the current owner. The spectacular result can be admired in full detail by going through our 24-shot gallery, which also includes a shot of the car in the Rosso Bianco Museum.

This weekend, the Goodwood Motor Circuit hosted the 16th annual Revival Meeting. In addition to the set fixtures, this year's event featured tributes to Jim Clark and the Dambusters and also a special, two-driver Ford GT40-only race to mark the model's 50th anniversary. Unusual for the Revival, the weather was typically British with some rain on the first two days and a torrential downpour on Sunday during the blue ribband Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race. While this treated the spectators to a wet suit, it also brought out some of the best driving we have ever witnessed. Across the street from the track, British auctioneer Bonhams hosted a successful sale, headlined by the Alfa Romeo 8C 35 we featured last week. It changed hands for just under GBP 6 million, making it the most expensive Alfa Romeo ever sold at auction.
As always our photographers dressed up for the occasion and moved back into time to capture the 2013 Goodwood Revival in its entirety. The result is this detailed report, illustrated by a 370-shot gallery.

At this weekend's sold-out Goodwood Revival meeting, founding sponsor Bonhams will host their 15th annual sale. Headlining Saturday's auction will be an Alfa Romeo 8C 35, which was originally built by and for the Scuduria Ferrari works team. Powered by a mighty eight cylinder engine, it was the first Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car with all-round independent suspension. Despite being raced by the likes of Tazio Nuvolari the 8C 35 struggled against the even more sophisticated German opposition. Having served the Italian team for the better part of two seasons, the cars were sold off at the end of 1936. All but two ended up in South America and none of these returned from their sojourn in one piece. Of the other two, one is now in the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo, while the other was first raced by Hans Ruesch from Switzerland and later by Dennis Poore in Great Britain. The latter is the one on offer at Bonhams and is the most original of all 'Tipo Cs' remaining. It changed hands in 1987 for $2.87 million, which at the time was the highest ever paid for a Grand Prix car at auction. The car has since been meticulously restored and has been successfully raced in vintage events. For Saturday's sale the estimate of the spectacular Alfa Romeo 8C 35 is GBP 5.5 - 6.5 million.
One of the other headliners of the Goodwood Revival sale is the third and final Jaguar XJR-8 built for the 1987 season. Run by the Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) team, the Jaguars won the World Championship that year although a victory at Le Mans still eluded them. The car on auction is the only one that was never upgraded to the later XJR-9 specification and has been part of the same collection for many years. With the addition of chassis J12-C-387, our XJR-8 article now includes pictures and details of all three examples. Among them is the very car that Justin Law drove to the fastest time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed back in July.
A star last year's Revival was the ex-works Ginetta G10, which will also cross the block on Saturday. Beautifully restored the potent machine should fetch in excess of GBP 150,000.
As mentioned above the Revival Meeting has been completely sold out but, fortunately, the fine people at Goodwood have found a way to accommodate those that missed on tickets with an uninterrupted live stream from the Goodwood website.

Today, the biennial Frankfurt Motor Show kicked off with the first of two press preview days. Traditionally this is the day when all new releases are presented to the gathered media and today was no exception. Among the most exciting cars on show was the BMW i8. Following the release of some teaser images, the high performance hybrid has now been officially presented and can be admired from every angled in this 37-shot gallery. Another star was this Mercedes-Benz Concept S-Class Coupe. As the name suggests, this is the two-door version of the S-Class and will form the basis for the replacement of the current CL class.
Fellow Germans Porsche used the IAA to officially launch the 918 Spyder supercar. In addition to detailed specifications and more images, Porsche also noted that works driver Marc Lieb managed to complete a lap around the daunting Nurburgring Nordschleiffe circuit in just 6:57, making the 918 Spyder the first production road car to break the 7-minute barrier.
Ferrari, meanwhile, presented the 458 Speciale in full detail. It boasts a more powerful version of the 458's V8 and also is the most aerodynamically efficient car Ferrari has ever built. The livery of the show car is a tribute to Luigi Chinetti's legendary North American Racing Team.
The IAA also hosted the launch of the Spark-Renault STR_01E, which will be used in the upcoming Formula E championship for electric single seaters. It promises to be a very serious machines as it combines components from McLaren, Williams and Dallara, while Renault Sport is one of the technical partners.
To get a complete picture of all the cars introduced in Frankfurt, please take a look at this list with all the major releases.
Although not on display in Frankfurt, Honda did announce the first details of the upcoming Civic Type R. It will be powered by a 2-litre turbocharged engine, good for at least 280 bhp.

As has become customary, the Volkswagen Group offer a comprehensive preview of their debuts on the eve of a major motor show. This year's IAA is no exception and among the surprise releases was this Audi Nanuk quattro concept. Styled by Giugiaro, it features a mid-mounted TDI V10, capable of well over 500 bhp. The sophisticated crossover supercar also boasts four wheel steering. Another brand new Audi on display is the A3 Cabriolet, which will come with a choice of petrol and diesel engines. A 300 bhp S3 Cabriolet will follow shortly. Sister company Lamborghini will showcase the Gallardo Squadra Corse of which additional images have been released.
One of the most talked about cars at the German show will no doubt be the Jaguar C-X17 Sports Crossover Concept as it offers a glimpse of the British manufacturer's first foray in this lucrative market. Underneath the Ian Callum penned lines sits an all new aluminium monocoque chassis, which will form the basis for Jaguar's future production cars.
Brabus have taken a stab at the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which has resulted in the 850 6.0 Biturbo 'iBusiness', which features both a more powerful engine and an uprated interior with a sophisticated Apple-based entertainment and business system.
We will keep a close eye on all the news from Frankfurt tomorrow and our dedicated page with all releases will be updated accordingly.

The pair of Ferrari classes (for Competition and Grand Touring) are a set fixture at the Pebble Beach. One of the stars at this year's Concours d'Elegance in the Ferrari Competition class was this unique 212 MM Vignale Berlinetta. This is the only 212 MM produced as the subsequent 212 competition cars received the moniker 'Export' and it has a rich contemporary racing career, highlighted by a victory in the Coppa InterEuropa at Monza with Luigi Villoresi behind the wheel. Following a crash very early in its life, the car's body was rebuilt in a more modern style by Vignale. This has finally been rectified through a ground up restoration and Pebble Beach was the first time for the world to admire the one-off 212 MM Vignale Berlinetta in its original glory since August of 1951.
Lamborghini was one of the featured marques at Pebble this year, and our eye was particularly caught by two special Miura P400 SVs. The first was one of just ten fitted with a limited slip differential and after being stored in 1981, it has survived in remarkable original condition. The other was the very last one built and actually the first Lamborghini tested by the now legendary test driver Valentino Balboni exactly forty years ago. Both remarkable Miuras are pictured in this 18-shot gallery both on the lawn at Pebble and on the Tour d'Elegance.
With just a few days to go until the show opens, more and more manufacturers offer a first glimpse of what is to come in Frankfurt. Both Citroen and Smart will launch funky concepts in the form of the Cactus and Fourjoy respectively. Mercedes-Benz will take the wraps off the CLA 45 AMG Racing Series. Built to compete in a series for two-litre turbocharged cars, it is designed to be able to race as both a front-wheel or all-wheel drive car.

At next week's Frankfurt Motor Show or IAA, Audi will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Sport quattro with the all new 700 hp Sport quattro concept. The sophisticated machine boasts a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that consists of a twin-turbo V8 and an electric motor, good for a combined 700 hp and 800 Nm of torque. In addition to its high performance credentials, the Sport quattro concept is also capable of running 50 km on the electric motor alone. To put today's concept car in perspective, we have also redone our Sport quattro article with images of one of just ten examples sold to the United States.
Also using what is basically the same V8 as the Audi sport quattro concept is the Bentley Continental GT V8 S. In this application, the twin-turbo V8 produces 521 bhp. The GT V8 S will be available as both a Coupe and a Convertible.
Meanwhile Porsche is continuing to test the LMP1 racer ahead of its competition debut in 2014 when it is due to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We continue to keep tabs on the program and have expanded our article with the latest images and also a video of the camouflaged machine.

Among the most highly anticipated events of the Monterey Car Week were the various collector car auctions where as many as 100 cars were expected to sell for over $1 million. The neutreal observers were certainly not disappointed as no record was safe. Each of the three auction houses we visited, Bonhams, RM Auctions and Gooding & Co., had reason to look back at their respective sales with great satisfaction. Particularly Bonhams had a reason to celebrate as the British company bounced back from their dismal sale in 2012. It was, however RM Auctions, that grabbed most headlines when they sold a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Nart Spyder for a staggering $27.5 million with all proceeds going to charity. The result of our visits to the respective auctions is this concise report, illustrated by a 200-shot gallery of all the highlights. At the bottom of the article, links to the complete results are posted.
With little over a week to go, the latest addition to the list of releases due in Frankfurt is the Jaguar C-X17. Although we have only been handed a teaser image, we do know that the compact hatchback will feature Jaguar's new modular aluminium architecture.