Cars

It’s hard to believe, but true: next spring, the Lamborghini Gallardo will be ten years old. For a super sports car, that’s a small eternity – but before a replacement arrives next year (coinciding with the marque’s 50th anniversary), the Gallardo will receive a number of updates. As part of the reorganisation, the basic LP 560-4 is to be given a new front fascia and rear bumper design, both of which are marked by triangular and trapezoidal elements. New 19-inch ‘Apollo’ alloys round off the more noteworthy changes.

“There’s one thing I’d like to clarify,” said Jaguar brand Chief Adrian Hallmark during a secret preview of the new F-type in London earlier this month. “We’re not trying to honour the ashes of the dead. For us, it's not about sentimentality – and this is not a new E-type”. But comparisons to the greatest of all Jaguar icons are inevitable. Following on from the successful racing C- and D-types, the E-type arrived in the early 1960s to provide the British marque with long-awaited public success.

It shares the same 4.7-litre V8 as its siblings, but emphasis has been put on giving the car ‘sports characteristics derived from racing experience’ – albeit without losing its touring abilities. That’s why, while the MC Stradale coupé is a strictly two-seat affair, the GranCabrio MC has been allowed to retain its quartet of chairs.

A new V12 Ferrari is always a big event. Just think about the very first 125 S from 1947, or the 250 GTO – or the 275 GTB/4. The 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ defines the 1970s, while the outgoing 12-cylinder Ferrari berlinetta, the 599 in its most extreme ‘GTO’ form, still looks fresh – and incredibly potent.

Consider, then, the latest F12berlinetta, a car more powerful than an Enzo, yet 5cm shorter and 2cm narrower than a 599. It’s 50kg lighter, too.

Has the classic Italian supercar peaked in size, then, and now become more compact, more efficient than ever before?

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The procession took place during the Ferrari Racing Days weekend, where drivers from the Corse Clienti programme pit their exclusive machines (including F1 and FXX/599XX research cars) against those of their fellow gentleman racers. With the atmosphere among spectators already whipped up by the scream of Championship-winning F1 cars relishing their second life, late afternoon saw the procession make its way towards the start line.

It must have been a hard decision to make, but the case for including both the Virage and the DB9 in Aston’s 2011-2012 range in tough market conditions was always a marginal one. So the deletion of the newer car certainly clarifies Aston’s position: Vanquish, a ‘super GT’ as the manufacturer puts it, and now solely the DB9, a luxurious high-speed gentleman’s express with ‘adequate’ power, stunning looks and a high specification.

The car, says McLaren, is heavily influenced by the company’s Racing division, but we won’t be seeing the full production version when the wraps come off at the McLaren Automotive press conference in Paris, next Thursday 27 September. What we’ll be seeing is a design study – although McLaren doesn’t hang around when it comes to turning concepts into reality. The company aims to put the car on sale within 12 months, when it will sit above the 12C and 12C Spider in terms of both price and performance.