So motor show season is upon us! The Paris media days are next week, meaning there's been a deluge of pre-show stories as manufacturers each aim to build excitement. All of those you can catch up on here before the show; expect a few more actual surprises on the homepage as the week goes on.
As well as that, we've had two stories of exhilarating races and the usual batch of news, reviews and opinions. See it all here!
In case the coupe wasn't intoxicating enough
Let's deal with what's coming up at Paris first. Up until Thursday the big news was the
Mercedes-AMG C63
(that's the official title now) with its 510hp flagship, standard LSD and startling efficiency figures. Then Ferrari unveiled the
458 Speciale A
and that has rather gazumped the Merc. With an identical powertrain to the coupe it promises a, er, special driving experience. More on that soon.
Other notable Paris stars shown this week? The Jaguar XE will have its full motor show launch (supporting high school musical unconfirmed) and Infiniti will show its attempt at a luxury four-door coupe with the Q80 Inspiration. The Audi TT Roadster and new Renault Espace have also been detailed. There will be a whole plethora of new car on show and potentially even a surprise or two we haven't seen yet (!). Keep your eyes on the homepage for everything.
This will be before the thunderstorm then
But who wants to hear about static cars when you could read about racing cars? PH raced in two incredible events last weekend, Harris in a Ford Falcon
at Spa
McLaren at Donington
. Great stories both, and well worth a slice of your weekend.
Taking everything down to a rather more sedate level, the revised Rolls-Royce Ghost has also been driven this week. Furthermore, on the British V12 theme, the Aston V12 Vantage S Roadster has been driven as well.
With Paris taking many of the headlines it's been relatively quiet elsewhere. But don't forget the SEMA show in Las Vegas isn't far off and the Cologne bike show opens its doors next week. Oh, and as we're discussing slightly weird shows with motoring interest, the State Fair of Texas played host to a Toyota pick-up launch. Really.
Let 'em fight over M3s, get this
Following the news about Lotus's potential redundancies, it was heartening to speak with
CEO Jean-Marc Gales
about the future and discover sensible, workable plans. PH is hopeful for the future, and had to mark the occasion with a
Lotus POTW.
Finally on our regular features, take a look at this gorgeous Alpina E30 found in the classifieds, another two £100K Garage (Monday here and Thursday here) plus Shed's Mercedes V8.
- To Paris in a Lamborghini Huracan
- AMG C-Classes market watch
- Audi R8 Buying Guide
- Birds BMW 435i driven