A Targa that finally lives up to its illustrious name? We get behind the wheel of the latest build from PIE Performance. It’s a semi-open-top 964 with a dash of Florio, as we’re about to find out...
The Ascari Ecosse is one of the more obscure supercars of the 1990s, yet being engineered by Lee Noble suggests it could be one of the most thrilling. Glen Waddington finds out.
Not only was this 1961 E-Type the first open-two-seater to feature factory seat belt mountings but it was later transformed into an evocation of the rare Lightweight model.
The original M3, based on BMW’s handsome E30 Three Series, arrived with flair and fanfare at the 1985 Frankfurt Auto Show. Here was a well-revised, well-sorted E30 built as a homologation special to challenge the likes of the Cosworth-engined Mercedes-Benz 190E W201 on the racetracks of Europe. While sharing its main components with the road-going Three Series, as per Group A regulations, the M3 was lighter and stiffer and quicker.
With its 1000hp powertrain, the SF90 hybrid is the most potent road car Ferrari has ever made. We strap ourselves into the Assetto Fiorano version and experience a world of true extremes.
It’s a rasping, tearing sound; the kind of cochlea-tingling force that leaves your synapses twitching in some postnarcotic buzz – beautifully naughty, and oh-so-addictive.
Eagerly awaiting a 3.4-litre flat-six and finished in a hulk-like hue, this RSR-aping Carrera 3.2 is a fiendishly fascinating classic Porsche with giant road presence…
For reader Peter Rogers the perfect car CV has to include a distinctive cruiser that’s also a canny buy. Will a day driving the 1996 Bentley Continental R provide a perfect match?
With its V6 hybrid powerplant, the Ferrari 296 GTB marks a whole new approach from Maranello. 830hp and a short wheelbase lead Ferrari to claim this is the most fun-to-drive car in its range. But is it? We’re about to find out – on road and track.
And so we arrive at a notable benchmark on this journey: the Ferrari F40 was the first production car to exceed the magic ‘double-ton’. You could argue that the F40 owes its existence to healthy opportunism rather than a well-planned marketing strategy. Ferrari’s sales had faltered in the early 1980s, with fears that its products were turning ‘soft’ under Fiat’s corporate blanket.
Is it a restomod? Not really — some of its original kit is still in place. A backdate? Kind of. It’s been a forward-date in its lifetime, too. Essentially, you’re looking at a hot rod capturing the spirit of a narrow band of competition cars in the 911’s evolutionary progression…
Mike Flannery’s Carrera RS 2.7 evocation makes use of Carrera 3.2 mechanicals and a raft of wide-ranging improvements to be even better than the real thing…
