This weekend was Independence Day in the United States and that inspired us to take a closer look at four American sports racers. The earliest of the quartet is this very rare Ford GT Roadster. One of four built, it was the only open GT(40) raced at Le Mans. It was later owned for many years by custom car designer Dean Jeffries. In more recent years, GT/109 has been carefully restored and was shown at a Pebble Beach in 2006.
The least known car featured today is most definitely the Corvette ZR1 that was raced at Le Mans in 1995. Very much a privateer effort, it was developed by Doug Ripple Motorsports. Built to compete in the GT1 class, it was no match for the McLaren F1 GTRs and eventually retired with a broken engine. The unique Corvette ZR1 racer is today in Swiss hands.
Altogether more successful at Le Mans were the Dodge Vipers. The chassis highlighted here made one appearance at Le Mans but spent most of its career in the FIA GT, Belcar and FFSA GT championships. Pressed back into service by its current owner, Viper GTS-R C39 wears the same colours as it did at Le Mans back in 2002.
That same year, the British GT Championship was won by Tommy Erdos and Ian McKellar, piloting this Saleen S7-R. The pairing took a vey impressive eight victories in the Graham Nash Motorsport fielded machine. Later in its career, 015R also competed in the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans Series.

Maserati have released the full details of the engine that is due to power the upcoming MC20. Developed in-house, it is a twin-turbo V6 with a three-litre displacement. Weighing just 220 kg, it is good for just over 620 bhp.
Just like Maserati, BMW are keen to create a buzz about their upcoming models by releasing pictures with camouflaged pre-production cars. In this case the soon to be released BMWs are the M3 Saloon and the closely related M4 Coupe. Due to be revealed properly in mid-September, both will be powered by a 480 hp six-cylinder engine and features a six-speed manual with rear-wheel drive. A competition version with 510 hp, eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive will also be available.
Due to their desire to continue testing without the burden of camouflage, Ineos Automotive have released the first pictures of the exterior of the upcoming Grenadier off-roader. Inspired by the demise of the Land Rover Defender, it is a no-nonsense machine that is the brainchild of one of Britain's most wealthy individuals. The development work is done by Magna Steyr, who also built the G-Class for Mercedes-Benz, and it will be powered by a BMW-sourced engine. Once testing is completed, the Grenadier should be ready to hit the road in 2021.
Peugeot, meanwhile, have provided us with a further inside into the upcoming 208 Rally 4. Set to make its competitive debut, the compact rally car is powered by a tiny three-cylinder engine that is still good for an appropriate 208 horsepower.

For the first time in well over 20 years, it will be a very quiet September at the Goodwood Motor Circuit this year. As a small consolation, we today take a closer look at four machines that starred at the Goodwood Revival in 2019.
One of the finest drives of the weekend came in this AC Shelby Cobra, which was driven to victory in the prestigious RAC TT Celebration race by its owner and Le Mans winner André Lotterer. Beautifully prepared, this very genuine Cobra proved blisteringly quick as Lotterer managed to set the fastest ever lap around Goodwood for a Cobra during practice. Having served its purpose, the owner has now put it up for sale with British dealer William I'Anson.
Another hugely successful racer around Goodwood and Le Mans for that matter, is this Lotus 15. Delivered new to John Coombs, it was raced in period by a very young Bruce McLaren. Having come full circle, chassis 609 is today owned and raced by an enthusiast from New Zeeland.
Also a recent veteran of the Revival and the Le Mans Classic, is the Porsche 910 featured today. It was raced in period by a British privateer, who would go on to own the car for over three decades. Its current German custodian knows how to use the car properly as he drove the car on the road from his home in London to Goodwood to take part in the 2019 Revival Meeting.
One of the more unusual cars that competed last September was this Abarth Simca 2000 GT. It was extensively raced in period and then spent many years in the fabulous Maranello Rosso Museum. Now re-painted in the flat black colours it raced in most of its life, the rare Abarth Simca looked very menacing.

Next week, the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship is finally due to get under way with the Austrian Grand Prix. To mark that occasion, we have today taken a closer look at four Grand Prix cars from the Cosworth DFV era. The earliest and most successful is undoubtedly this Lotus 49B Cosworth. The featured example was one of a pair originally built for the Tasman series but upon its return to Europe, it was converted to full Grand Prix specification and raced by the likes of Graham Hill, Richard Attwood and Jo Bonnier. More recently, chassis R8 was acquired at auction by ace Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey, who has since raced and shown the car at a variety of events.
Of a similar vintage is this McLaren M14A, which was raced during the difficult 1970 season by Denis Hulme. It was also campaigned by Jackie Oliver and Peter Gethin before it was converted into a F5000 car. Back in F1 configuration, M14A/2 is today part of the fabulous ROFGO Collection.
One of the most successful Grand Prix cars fielded by the Fittipaldi team was the F7 of 1980. It was derived from the final Wolf design as that team had been absorbed at the end of 1979. Two were converted Wolf chassis, but the featured example was the only one built from scratch. It has recently been restored and campaigned at the 2018 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.
One of the very last Cosworth DFV cars to win a Grand Prix is the Williams FW08C and the example represents the very last of the line. It was not actually raced in period as it was earmarked for a customer's 1985 F3000 campaign that ended prematurely. Today part of the Williams Heritage Collection, chassis FW08-12 remains as the last DFV-engined racer built by the British team.

One of the more remarkable histories we learned about recently is of this DeTomaso Pantera Group 4. It was the very first Group 4 Pantera built and at its debut during the 1972 Le Mans trials immediately smashed the GT lap record. Sadly, it did not get to race at Le Mans as it was involved in an accident at Monza. While the damage was not substantial, the car was not repaired as it was involved in a legal dispute with the insurance company. DeTomaso was eventually paid for the damages under condition that the car was destroyed. The Italian manufacturer did nothing of the sort and instead used the chassis, with a new number, to build a Pantera GT5 that was used as a factory demonstrator in Europe. A later owner discovered the true origins of the car, and the most recent custodian has had the Pantera Group 4 completely rebuilt to its original, 1972 configuration.
Ahead of the official launch later in the year, Lamborghini Squadra Corse have revealed a first glimpse of the SCV12 track-day special. Producing at least 830 hp, it produces Lamborghini's most powerful naturally aspirated V12 engine to date. Due to be constructed in limited numbers, the lucky few owners are invited to participate with their SCV12 in special events where they will receive tutoring from five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro.
Lotus have marked the 20th anniversary of the Exige with a special edition based on the Exige Sport 410. It will be available in three colours that were taken from the original Exige as well as three new colours. Subtle cues throughout reveal that it in fact is the Exige 20th anniversary model.

With the official Pebble Beach auction cancelled for obvious reasons, Gooding & Co. will hold the online-only Geared Online sale instead between August third and seventh. Among the early consignments to the sale are a trio of Ferrari supercars that are offered from the stable by the family of the original owner. The earliest is this F40, which has barely covered 4,500 miles from new. In 1995, it was joined in the collection by this silver F50. Also offered in highly original condition, it is expected to sell for $2.2 - 2.6 million. The latest addition to the stable was this Enzo, which was also finished in silver. Like the F50, it should fetch between $2.2 and 2.6 million.
Not due at the auction but consigned to Gooding & Co. as a private treaty sale is this Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA. Prepared by Autodelta for its first owner, it was raced with great success in the inaugural Trans-Am series by Horst Kwech and Gaston Andrey. Their combined efforts helped Alfa Romeo score enough points to win the manufacturers' trophy. Kwech also used this GTA to win the B-Sedan National Championship and SCCA President's Cup at the end of the season. The asking price of this Trans-Am winning GTA is $575,000.