Cars

Has the Countach now completed its transition from second-hand supercar to collector's item?

Willy Koenig was the undisputed emperor of the wild Eighties tuning scene.

Completing its maiden voyage during the third Ferrari Cavalcade held in Sicily over the weekend, the F12 TRS is the latest Prancing Horse to be built specifically to a single client’s demands – the marque’s way of thanking its most loyal aficionados, while also banking a healthy cheque in the process. So, what did the anonymous commissioner receive in exchange for the rumoured €3.1 million he wired to Maranello?

“The decision to branch out on my own to develop a new business has not been easy,” says Hartley Jnr, “but the time is now right for me to put my considerable experience, reputation and energy into a new venture that I can develop in a very personal way.” Operating from brand new private premises in Derbyshire, the new business will take advantage of Tom’s knowledge and infectious enthusiasm for classic cars, as well as his discerning eye that enables him to select only the very best cars available on the market – take the fabulous

With which sports car would Ferris Bueller enjoy a day off school in the summer of 2014?

Slotting into the Continental family as its “rarest and most dynamic member”, the GT3-R is claimed to push Bentley’s cornerstone principles of luxury and performance to new heights. Power will come from the familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 (albeit tuned to 572bhp and incorporating a torque vectoring system in the 4WD powertain), while the absence of rear seats and the use of lightweight materials help shed 100kg from the weight of the standard V8 S.

The sun is shining on the Le Mans circuit. Only the ladies and gentlemen in their fireproof suits resent the growing warmth as, almost one and a half hours before the end of the toughest endurance race in the world, the second Porsche retires with gearbox problems. It joins the #20 Porsche in the pits, a car which had been vying for the lead against Audi just a few hours before on Sunday morning. At this moment, with both Porsche 919 Hybrids out of the race, the ‘Return to Le Mans 2014’ mission seems to have failed. But has it really? Far from it!

In the mid-70s, at the height of the oil crisis, the idea of a crossover between cars and art was almost unthinkable. Yet French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain saw fit to bring these two worlds together, commissioning American artist Alexander Calder to paint a 3.0 CSL (which incidentally had a 3.5-litre engine) for its campaign at the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. The eye-catching car was an instant hit, and the following year saw Poulain line up at La Sarthe in a ‘graph paper’ CSL designed by Frank Stella.