What a spot !! Having not been to London for a few weeks over the Christmas holidays my first trip back did not disappoint. Usual journey down gave a few standard Ferraris and Porsches but going into the centre of London I spotted a Porsche Carrera GT just parked up on the side of the road. I say “the side of the road” but to be honest it was very nice part of town where houses certainly do not come cheap so I guess having a £200K car just left outside could be deemed to be a little bit more normal ?

Anyway, what a car ! I’ve seen a few on the roads over the years and every time I conclude it is the road car I’d buy if I ever came properly into some money.

There were 1,270 Carrera GT’s built of which basically 50% were sold in the USA, so with 600 left for the rest of the world it remains a rare treat to spot one. It’s also an interesting car due to its history and if you like, its reason for birth…. the story is that Porsche was building a new sportscar for Le Mans (see photo below) :

It then got just 2 days of testing (and one caught here !) before the project got cancelled with stories of both needed engineers to focus on their new off-roader (the Cayenne !) and that as Porsche wanted help from VW / Audi for the Cayenne it was suggested Ferdinand Piech didn’t want to compete against its Audi R8.

This engine then made it into a concept car at the Geneva Motor show where strong consumer interest in the car lead to Porsche building the Carrera GT.

So, in a strange way we have to thank both Audi & the Cayenne for giving us the Carrera GT !!

You may be interested in this book about the Carrera GT

or reading more about the Porsche LMP1 on Mulsannes Corner

Is it just me or is this just funny ! Saw a white one of these last night and everytime it just makes me smile ! I’m not laughing at it in a sad manner, but just find it amusing and a good piece of engineering to make them so long…. oh, and great credit to the drivers who manage (mostly) to not crash these things as the take a corner.

Keep them coming, and the more unusual base cars the better !!

Mercedes SLR McLaren spotted earlier this week heading up the motorway at speed….

So, is this a £330,000 success or just a dressed up Merc SL ? I’d suggest its the latter as when I’ve seen one before with a passenger in the car with me, they’ve wondered what I was so excited about and why I was so keen on catching the “big merc” ? Unfortunately it just looks too much like a standard SL to the average person to justify its price.

And, from what I’ve read it doesn’t particularly drive well either so its not like that is the reason for a high price… goes well in a straight line but with a 5.4L supercharged V8 pushing out 626hp a 0 to 60mph time of 3.8seconds is only to be expected. But I hear its not to hot at corners and in this country thats somewhat of a problem !!

Will there be another…. I don’t think so. It seems like a marriage that didn’t work with no-one really happy and both now developing their own new supercars.

Car Magazine gives us the following spy shot from Oct’08 of the McLaren P11 due in 2010…

and one lucky person saw a test mule driving on UK roads, managing to capture it on video :

And once again Car Magazine gives us the following spy on the new Mercedes SLC Gullwing :

With some fascinating video footage of the SLC also captured over in the USA.

Want know more ? Visit the Official Mercedes SLR McLaren website or buy Mercedes books and McLaren books to read more.

Why ??? Spotted a tricked up X6 today (big wheels, black actually so suited the black car and tinted windows) but just made me want to ask why ?

Who wants one of these and why ? I mean, lets create a big 4×4 and give it all the usual features. Then lets make a niche model of that, thats basically the same without the boot ?? Oh, and charge you a £1,000 more for the pleasure.

According to BMW its a Sports Activity Coupe that has apparently got “all the agility and elegance of a coupe” ? Perhaps I’m mistaken, but this is no looker and certainly does not drive like other BMW coupes (anyone remeber the M3 ???)

If you really want to know more, see here on the BMW website, or view a range of BMW books here.

The Nissan Cube !

Spotted today as clearly part of a group get together as nearly a dozen of these cuties were all together, and all with a subtly modified to make them look that little bit more special.

(This was the car I saw, click here so see more Flikr photos of this car)

Not officially sold outside of Japan, but rumored to be distributed in both the US and Europe in 2009 this is currently an import only car. The current model was released in 2002 with version 3 to be revealed at the LA Auto Show on November 19th 2008.

Personally, I think its a great little car where the styling really works….. its not fast, a smooth and coupe looking but it sure is cool !

Our man Ottocar (over at the forum) as got a couple and nicely re-painted in Gulf and Martini racing colours.

See more of his car on the forum here.

.

.

And interested in reading more, see the forum of the club seen out cruising today at http://cube-club.co.uk/

A very English car… the Bristol Fighter and the one I saw was also the bright orange colour so somewhat striking to see !

Bristol are quite unique in their approach, having no distributors or dealers and just 1 showroom in the centre of London…. where story has it that you have to be “liked” before they’ll sell you a car even if you’ve got the money ! The fighter draws on years of aviation experience and is built because its what they like and the best they can make, with no real interest in car fashion or modern culture. The fighter can achieve 210mph with 0-60mph in 4 seconds, all achieved from a 550bhp V10.

Its certainly an unusal car with the rear window the most obviously influenced by aircraft and the little extra window under the read boot lid a little special.

Classic Bristol’s used to house the spare wheel up front and on the side of the car which was certainly a unique feature, and has enabled me to play ‘name the car’ with the attached photo on many occasions !

.

Read more about the Bristol Fighter

Buy Bristol Book

The Ford GT was built by Ford between 2005 and 2006, and was bascially a re-creation of the Ford GT40 but Ford had foolishly sold the rights to use the name GT40 many years ago ! Built really as a celebration of 100 years of Ford it followed the traditional muscle car route of high power and great performance (in a straight line !).

In total 4,038 cars were produced with 3,596 sold in the US. So, that gives us just 442 for the rest of the world and hence just a handfull in this country. Styling wise its very similar to that of the original GT40 but just slightly larger in more areas (to pass current crash protection laws and give us all the toys we now demand like air con….) so its easy to say its a classic looking car.

Read more about the Ford GT

Buy a Ford GT Book

A great first day to comment on with 3 different cars of interest spotted ! So here goes…

Love it or loathe it the Alfa SV certainly provokes a reaction with the bold styling. Almost 20 years after it was built I still think it looks great and its the compact size that really impresses, as well as the high door panels vs small window area. The deep bluff chin is also very striking and certainly gives the car great presence on the road.

Just 1,036 (including prototypes) SZ’s were built between 1989 and 1991 and red & black was the only colour choice available. With this few produced, seeing one on public roads (and after all these years…) is a good result, and certainly helped make it a good days driving !

Read more about the Alfa SZ