Cars

Ferrari 330 GTS Targa by Harrah

At sea, he skippered the 12-metre yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America’s Cup; while on land, he had his sights set firmly on Le Mans. His dream was to achieve the first Le Mans 24 Hours victory by an all-American crew in an all-American car.

From London to Edinburgh

Inheriting the top-level duties previously carried out by the Autobiography Black, the new trim line brings Bentley-like levels of luxury to the popular off-roader. It’ll be outwardly identifiable by its two-tone paintwork (the black upper body is offered in tandem with one of nine other colours), along with a chrome front grille, SV Autobiography badging and new wheels.

Late last year, a Porsche appeared on our site that even Google didn’t know about: the Porsche 911 HLS, complete with retractable roof. The wedge-shaped sports car was the result of a design contract for a racing coupé based on a rolling 911 chassis.

The 1935 Ulster in question is best known as LM19, one of a series of cars that was continually developed from 1928 onwards, with Le Mans glory in mind. According to Aston Martin’s then-chief designer and co-owner, Augustus ‘Bert’ Bertelli, the final clutch of cars – of which LM19 is one – were among “the best cars I ever built”. Today, LM19 is widely accepted to be one of the very best pre-War sports cars.

There was a time when ‘the Continent’ really meant something to us Brits. It conjured images of the exotic, with ‘continental quilts’ instead of our weighty old blankets; ‘continental breakfasts’ instead of eggs and bacon – and ‘continental habits’, of which we sometimes didn’t approve. But now, in the age of the ‘Tunnel sous la Manche’ and budget airlines that will get you to Cannes for less than the price of half a tank of petrol, much of the glamour has been lost from the idea of ‘going abroad’.