At the time, the convertible version of Crewe’s Continental two-door coupé was one of the most expensive cars in the world. In the United Kingdom it carried a price tag of £215,000 – a premium of some £40,000 over the coupé.

Pininfarina took two years to carefully design the complicated fold-back mechanism which made the fabric roof totally disappear when down. And not only that, it was also contracted to provide complete bodyshells from underpans and sub-assembly components supplied by Park Sheet Metal in Coventry. All final assembly was done at Crewe.

Ferrari 308 GT4: The first V8

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.

It is extremely rare for any of the Silver Arrows Grand Prix cars to come up for sale – and the 2½-litre eight-cylinder single-seater W196 racing car with chassis number 00006/54 is one of the most important of its kind. This is the actual car in which Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1954 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, and the Swiss Grand Prix in Bern.

As you might expect from two children of the same parents, the SM and Khamsin have identical blood running through their veins. That blood is called LHM (liquide hydraulique minerale), a fluid pressurised by an engine-driven pump and contained in a system of pipes. It’s used to activate the Khamsin’s brakes, clutch, power steering (and even the seat height adjustment), with the result that the lightest touch on any of these controls has a frighteningly huge effect.

2013 will go down in the automotive history books, as Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche battle to win the New Age Hypercar Championship. Two of the contenders, the Ferrari ‘LaFerrari’ and McLaren P1, made an appearance at Geneva this week, while the Porsche 918 is still in the techno-gym, with an alleged appearance later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The concept's aim is to “renew the spirit of the extraordinary achievements born from Sergio Pininfarina’s pencil,” achievements which encompass the likes of the Alfa Romeo Duetto, Bentley Azure and, of course, numerous Ferraris.

Going by the name ‘Veneno’, the new car celebrates the marque’s golden jubilee by placing focus on extrovert styling and aerodynamic efficiency.

So far, more than 14,000 examples of the GT3 have been sold; quite a considerable figure, given its track-biased dynamic set-up. But despite the model's obvious popularity, even the widely acclaimed ‘ultimate 911’ needs to move on, if only to stay ahead of the game rather than keep pace with it.

Almost visually unchanged from the Paris concept, the P1 will boast a total of 903bhp: 727bhp comes from the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 found in the 12C (albeit with larger turbos and a special crankcase), and 176bhp from an electric motor. This will allow the P1 to reach 186mph from standstill in less than 17 seconds, on its way to an electronically limited 217mph top speed. The P1 can produce up to 600kg of downforce, which approaches that of a Le Mans car.