Throughout any car brand’s history, there are often landmark moments that bolster their reputation. This could be winning the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans, reaching the production of 1,000,000 examples, or on occasion, the creation of a variant of an existing model so extreme that it puts fear into even the world’s most exclusive supercar makers. That final point is exactly what Porsche did in 1978, taking their humble 911 and cranking it up to 11 and beyond thanks to the addition of a turbocharger. 

If you’ve ever had the desire to fit two contrasting coloured Daytona-style seats, or hand-painted coachlines and roundels to your Ferrari, you’d be surprised to know the brand themselves offer such a thing.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say the Bugatti Veyron kickstarted the horsepower wars that have been raging right up until the debut of the latest Bugatti speed machine, the 1,800hp Tourbillon. Back in 2005, the Veyron’s 1,001hp output from its 8.0-litre W16 was almost inconceivable, as was it’s mind-boggling 407 km/h top speed. However, why was did this seemingly random number become the Veyron’s headline figure?