History

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2003 Volkswagen Concept-R

Back in 2003, Volkswagen may have just debuted the latest 3.2-litre V6 hot hatch, but somebody at Wolfsburg decided that engine would work far better planted in the middle of a sleek roadster powering the rear wheels – enter the Volkswagen Concept R.

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1988 Porsche Type 965 Prototype

The story of Porsche’s sub-959 supercar The 965 could have replaced the Turbo outright – and even introduced a V8 engine. But it never got beyond a prototype, as Total 911 discovers…

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1953 Porsche 550 Spyder

The first Porsche designed specifically for motorsport, the 550 Spyder is considered one of the most important race cars ever manufactured...

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1966 Ford Ranger II Concept

From work on Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters to designing the tail-lights on the ’64 Falcon Futura, designer Syd Mead’s star turn was the Ranger II concept pick-up truck, as Richard Heseltine discovers…

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1990 Alpine A710 W71 Prototype

It didn’t get to succeed the A610, but instead transformed into one of the ’90s most extreme sports cars

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2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT C199

Crafty competition plans resulted in the wickedly fast and noisy SLR 722 GT – but sadly not a suitably evocative race series, as James Page discovers

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1989-1999 BMW 8 Series E31

Want to feel ancient? Well, consider this. Temporally speaking, the launch of the E31 BMW 8 Series was closer to the first televised appearance of Elvis Presley than it is to today. But then the 8 Series is a car that has a rare ability to catch you off guard. Despite none finding customers during the ’80s, it’s viewed by many as a quintessentially ’80s BMW yet the technology that underpinned this car was anything but a throwback.

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Memorable Racecars 1965 Lotus 38

Firsts seldom come in fours. However, as an embodiment of the representative quantum leap taken over its competitors of the era, at the 1965 Indy 500, the Lotus 38 heralded just that.

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1990 Audi V8 quattro DTM

Lurking in the shadows of the poster children of the Group A generation of DTM cars – the Mercedes 190 E and E30 BMW M3 – the Audi V8 quattro DTM is easily forgotten.

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Aero hero - Ford’s 1983-1988 Thunderbird ushered in a new era for American cars

Pundits will argue that the 1986 Ford Taurus was the car that really redefined American car design during the Eighties; but I would argue that its Thunderbird stablemate

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Ex-BTCC 1992 BMW 318iS Coupe E36/2

Few race cars are quite as loved as Tim Harvey’s 1992 BTCC 318iS E36/2. Today, the car lives on as a period-perfect racer in New Zealand…

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Aston Martin drivers Tony Brooks

Not a household name today, but Tony Brooks remains one of Aston Martin’s most accomplished drivers.

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Understanding the Jaguar XJ-S design

When I joined Jaguar in the mid-Seventies I was surprised to discover it was Malcolm Sayer who had initiated the XJ-S’s design since as a large grand tourer, it was a very different car from his most famous, the E-type.

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