While spy pictures are all well and good, there's no denying the fact that prototype cars - all cars in fact - look considerably more exciting when they're moving. So with a batch of freshly shot vids by our industrious spy snapper in the can, here's a PH highlights reel of the best.
We'll begin with a car that hasn't been spotted until now, the Range Rover Velar SVR. From what can be seen (and heard) it would appear that this Velar follows the established SVR format: thunderous supercharged V8 up front, bigger wheels, bigger brakes and a generally more aggressive demeanour. It's fairly romping around the Nordschleife too - could it be gunning for the Stelvio Quadrifoglio's Nurburgring 'record'? Expect a reveal for the SVR sometime after the Project 8 XE reaches customers - can't have too many V8s rolling around now, can we?
Perhaps the most exciting video of this selection is that which features the next Toyota Supra, primarily as it sounds like it's powered by a turbocharged straight six of some kind. Well it sounds more interesting than a four-cylinder, at least. This has historical significance as well as aural appeal, the fourth-gen Supra - the last one offered in the UK - having been powered by the now legendary 2JZ twin-turbo straight-six.
Beyond that, the styling doesn't appear to have evolved much further, the FT-1 influence still clear and the proportions nice: it looks compact and well proportioned, perhaps smaller than you might expect. Good spoiler, too.
BMW is collaborating with Toyota on this sports car project, though its Z4 offering hasn't been seen for a little while now. Instead from the camo'd car catchers we have more of the 8 Series, which can't be far off now. The ten seconds of the single 8 Series on its own is great, the car fast, wide and low with a V8 rumble shredding the mountain air. But the two of them together looks most entertaining - tough day at the testing office and so on. Can the 8 Series deliver where two generations of 21st century 6 Series haven't quite hit the mark?
One car that has enjoyed success across a pair of 21st century iterations - dodgy gearboxes aside - is the
Aston Martin Vanquish
. But time waits for no man (or his supercar) and, with the current model having been launched in 2012, its time is up. Expect the third generation car to draw heavily on the DB11 for its design and engineering, most likely borrowing its 5.2-litre V12 in a higher state of turbo tune. Certainly it seems to be doing that gargly Aston V12 thing as it powers out of the Karussell and, dare it be said, the gearchanges sound pretty sharp too...
Last - but certainly by no means least - are the preview videos of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Or whatever it will actually be called. Quite why it must pound the Nurburgring as part of its development process we're not entirely sure, though it should be said that the car is not disgraced by its circuit performance. Sure, it leans pretty heavily on its outside front, but pitch and roll look fairly well contained and the speed is almost unseemly for something so grand. Spookily quiet too compared to the rest, but this is a Rolls-Royce.
Plenty to anticipate in the months ahead then, from sport cars to super SUVs. And probably one or two spurious Nurburgring lap records as well... Stay tuned!
[Spy videos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]
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