Cars

Porsche Classic with Magnus Walker and 40 years of the 911 Turbo

“Whether you’re active in the historic racing world or simply enthusiastic about the history of motor racing, you can’t avoid Lola,” says Classic Driver dealer William I’Anson, himself a historic racing expert and Lola enthusiast. “It’s Britain’s longest-standing manufacturer of racing cars, and has been at the forefront of one or more forms of motor racing since its arrival.” Indeed, Lola's founder Eric Broadley worked with Ford to develop the GT40, such was his talent.

When the idea first came about, the film was to be documentary about Felice Nazzaro’s victory in the Targa Florio of 1913, in a car of his own manufacture. Later plans decided that it would instead concentrate on the early life of the legendary race’s founder, Vincenzo Florio, but whatever the final content, this short teaser shows what a fabulous Sicilian treat is in store.

In sad contrast to today, Bertone was enjoying good fortune in the mid-1950s. The company was hiring workers, expanding into new premises, and courting a number of major manufacturers. Between founder Nuccio and his main pensmith at the time, Franco Scaglione, Bertone had also clothed the Giulietta Sprint for Alfa Romeo – a car whose success had dramatically exceeded expectations, and that put Bertone in the same league as Pininfarina and its ilk.

Little else has been revealed about the groundbreaking Bentley, but it's clear that the front end has been significantly rethought since the ill-received debut of the EXP 9 F concept in 2012.

Considered such a vital model to the future of the British marque – at least 3,000 are forecast to be sold annually – the design must hit the right note within all the company’s major markets. This early picture suggests a closer resemblance to the front-end styling of current Bentleys, although we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out if this applies to the front wings and beyond.

Well, now you have - and if you're remotely interested in classic rallying, I'd recommend getting your 2015 entry in as soon as possible because I've just returned from this year's event and it was truly impressive.

Climbing the Calobra

Of course, you wouldn’t usually refer to this pair as rivals. The box-arched BMW delivered competition-derived underpinnings to sun-seeking Europeans, while the Porsche followed the formula of an ancestor in a quest to re-ignite American interest. The Speedster recipe had been successful three decades earlier with Max Hoffman’s 356, so Porsche re-cooked it in 1989 with a 911 Carrera 3.2 flavour.

Off-the-cuff design hit