Starting in 1951-1952, Carrozzeria Vignale had taken over from Touring as the main provider of competition bodywork for Ferrari. With Giovanni Michelotti at the drawing board, Vignale produced stunning spider and berlinetta bodywork for factory and privateer racers, as well as slightly showier road car designs for the world’s super-rich.
The R Type Continental bodied by H. J. Mulliner is quite possibly one of the most elegant cars ever to begin life at the famous Crewe factory. Built to offer speed and comfort in one svelte package, it also held the record for being the fastest four-seat production car of its day. With a high-performance, straight-six engine, lightweight construction and streamlined bodywork, the car was perfectly suited to sprawling European highways. Nevertheless, not many more than 200 Continentals were ever built.
If you were one of those waiting for the Panamera to be completely restyled, you’ll be waiting a while longer; such has been the success of the super-saloon that Porsche sees no reason to change the fundamental design just yet (though the rear end does benefit significantly from the nip/tuck treatment). Instead, the marque has concentrated on diversifying the range even further, with 10 different versions going on sale by July this year. By far the most innovative is the Panamera S E-Hybrid: a plug-in hybrid toting 410bhp, yet theoretically capable of 91mpg.
Gemballa: Tuning, the German Way
1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato
The Mondial (as the ‘Mondial 8’) made its entrance at the 1980 Geneva Show. It replaced the angular 208/308 GT4 series of mid-engined 2+2s and was a Pininfarina design, executed in sheet steel by Scaglietti. Power came from a transverse-mounted, two-valve, fuel-injected, 3.0-litre V8 producing a modest 214bhp.
The new car was unveiled via a parade through the streets of New York – apparently the model’s best-selling city. Land Rover states that more Sports are sold in the United States than in any other country.
In fact, chassis JM/EXP115 still carries its original number plate, ‘HEA 1D’ from 15 September 1966 and has just 84,000 believed-to-be-genuine miles on the clock. While most will know that the West Bromwich-based company commissioned Carrozzeria Touring to design the CV8 replacement’s all-metal body, it was to Vignale that Jensen turned when it needed early production capacity.
Panhard PMS