If you’re going to design a sports car, you could do worse than going back to the classics and AC Cars has done just that with the unveiling of its Zagato AC 378 GT at the Geneva Motor Show. It’s a rolling tribute to not only 111 years of the AC Cars marque, but also its Anglo-Italian heritage and its long relationship with the Zagato design group going back to the AC Ace Zagato of 1957. The supercar, which will be sold in the UK for GBP89,990 (approx US$140,870) and Germany for EUR109,990 (US$144,970), is also part of AC Cars’ relaunch on the European market as a specialized car maker after a decade of false starts.

AC Cars isn’t the largest of car makers, but it does have a long history going back to its first 20 bhp touring car. In the past century, AC Cars have built a wide rang of specialized vehicles from high-powered sports cars to petrol-powered invalid carriages. Though a small company, it’s also had a big impact. An AC Cobra, which was produced by AC for the car designer Carroll Shelby in 1962, was caught by the authorities during a test run doing 196 mph (315 kph). This incident is commonly blamed for the introduction of the 70 mph (110 kph) speed limit in Britain.

In 1957, AC Cars began its long relationship with the Zagato design group, famous for its work with companies like Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Abarth, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Bristol. Their first collaboration was the AC Ace Zagato coupe. This performance car with its distinct blend of aggressive and elegant styling came 10th at Le Mans that year and served as the inspiration for the Zagato AC 378 GT – a link between the relaunched AC Cars marque and its glory days.

The relaunch is an attempt by Al Lubinsky, the current owner, to put behind nearly twenty years of rough sailing that saw AC Cars go into receivership, pass through a number of hands and bitter battles for ownership as well as a disastrous attempt to move production to Malta in 1995 that resulted in accusations and counter-accusations flying between the company and the Maltese government. Lubinsky’s plan is to relaunch the marque through three cars built by three different companies in three countries – one in Britain, one in Germany and the Zagato AC 378 GT in South Africa.

The whole project is under the chairmanship of a man with the frighteningly respectable name of General Sir Jeremy Mackenzie, GCB, OBE, DL, former Deputy Supreme Allied Command NATO Europe, Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Aide de Camp General to Her Majesty the Queen.

Unfortunately, despite all of this, AC Motors still suffers its share of bad luck. At the recent press unveiling of the Zagato AC 378 GT at the Geneva Motor Show, a customs problem in Britain made the car late for its own party. This is a pity because the Zagato AC 378 GT is most definitely a Zagato, which shouldn’t be surprising because it started out life in 2009 as the Zagato Perana.

The Zagato heritage of the Zagato AC 378 GT is there at a glance. It has the same long, dynamic curves defined by sharp edges and a heavily-raked windscreen. There’s the grill with the look of a surprised catfish, the headlamps that look like they’re getting ready to leap out in front of the car, and it even has the trademark "double bubble" roof that harks back to the days when Zagato introduced it to make room for drivers wearing crash helmets. The whole thing has a lean, hungry, powerful look that would be breathtaking if it weren’t for the bonnet and side vents that look as if the designer suddenly went mad at the last minute.

Under the carbon composite bodywork is a steel-tube frame and a 6.2 liter V8 engine cranking out 434 bhp. This shoots it from 0 to 60 mph (100 kph) in less than four seconds. Top speed still isn’t public, but with a power to weight ratio of 292.55 bhp/ton (220.48 kW/tonne), it isn’t going to be spending too much time getting passed on the motorway.

The result of two-years intense testing, ten pre-production cars have already been completed and AC Cars says that they are currently developing a roadster version that will take its design cues from the Shelby’s AC Cobra. The first deliveries of the Zagato AC 378 GT are expected in mid-2012.

In a sign of the times, Ducati has announced it will be selling two very recent Ducati Desmosedici GP machines at auction. The bikes, a GP11 2011 factory Desmosedici which brought Valentino Rossi his only top three finish of the 2011 season, and the other to GP10 which Casey Stoner took to victory in the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, are subject to an undisclosed reserve. "The lucky buyer must not only enter into a confidentiality agreement," said Ducati Corse’s Filippo Preziosi, "but also become a close member of the ‘Ducati family’!"

The two bikes, both from the 800cc era of MotoGP, will be a part of the annual Monaco sale at the Grimaldi Forum in beautiful downtown Monto Carlo, to be held on 11-12 May.

Casey’s bike

The bike for sale was built in the Ducati factory in Bologna between December 7 and December 11, 2009.

Casey Stoner’s Ducati Desmosedici GP10 "CS1" was first started for bench testing on December 14, 2009 before being track tested by Stoner in Sepang, Malaysia in February 2010.

Stoner first competed with CS1 in Qatar in April 2010 and he raced it to victory in the Australian GP at Phillip Island in October 2010.

The machine took pole positions in Qatar, Phillip Island and Valencia and powered the Australian to podium positions in Valencia, Assen and Catalunya. Its final Grand Prix was in Valencia, November 2010 having logged a total of 4,232km.

Vale’s bike

Valentino Rossi’s Ducati Desmosedici GP11 "VR2" was built at the Ducati factory between December 6 and December 10, 2010.

It was first started for bench testing two days later. VR2′s first track test for Rossi was carried out in the February 2011 Sepang tests and first competed in the Qatar Grand Prix the following month.

It recorded a podium position at Le Mans, France in May 2011 and competed in its last race at the Dutch TT in Assen, having logged a total of 2,342 km.

"The release of two very special machines like these is an extremely rare occasion for us, so the lucky buyer must not only enter into a confidentiality agreement, but also become a close member of the ‘Ducati family’!" said Ducati Corse General and Technical Director, Filippo Preziosi.

RM’s Monaco auction will also offer the private Saltarelli Collection of historic Ducati motorcycles at the same event, providing a wonderful celebration of Ducatis history. In addition to the motorcycles, the two-day sale will also feature a magnificent roster of blue-chip automobiles.

Whether you think the Bugatti Veyron is the pinnacle of sports car development or agree with Professor Gordon Murray that it’s the "most pointless exercise on the planet", we all somehow seem drawn to the name and its continuing outrageous deeds. This week saw another milestone for the marque with the unveiling of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse. It’s the roadster version of the world’s fastest car, which makes it the world’s fastest roadster at 410 km/h (255 mph ), though in real life it will be limited to 375 km/h (233 mph).

One of the Grand Sport Vitesse’s features is a new roof spoiler that significantly reduces wind noise and buffeting in the interior. There will also be a new windbreak that can be stored away in the luggage compartment when not in use. Used together, they allow "extremely relaxed, open-top driving even at speeds of around 200 km/h (124 mph)."

Let’s quickly recount a bit of history to put it all in perspective.

The original Bugatti Veyron 16.4 entered series production in November 2005 after more than a year of PR build-up.

The engine was and remains, without question, an automotive engineering masterpiece.

The Bugatti engine has 16 cylinders, eight camshafts, four turbochargers and 64 valves. The cylinders are arranged in a W16 engine formation – the engine is essentially two four liter, narrow-angle V8s, displacing 7.9 liters in total and producing 987 horsepower in its original version.

Everything about the Veyron had to be extra strong to carry the immense loads, and you could spend hours studying the cleverness of each and every component, none moreso than the 7-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) system developed by Ricardo specifically for the Veyron.

The Veyron quickly proved to be the fastest production car in history, running an average 406 km/h (252.2 mph), it topped 400 km/h (248.5 mph) for the first time with a production car, and added a whopping 20 km/h (12.4 mph) to the record.

The previous record had been held by the Koennigsegg CCR which ran 387.87 km/h (241.01 mph) to take the record from the McLaren F1.

The McLaren F1 had run 391 km/h (243 mph) with a naturally-aspirated car in 1998 and held the record for seven years.

The Bugatti was also the most expensive series production car in the world, and even managed to become responsible for the world’s most expensive speeding ticket.

A roadster version followed, dubbed the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, becoming the world’s fastest open top car, being capable of traveling at 360 km/h (223.6 mph) with the roof off, and 407 km/h (253 mph) with it closed.

Then, in 2007, Shelby Super Cars (SSC) Ultimate Aero TT claimed the world record for a production car with an average 256.15 mph (412.2 km/h) over two runs. The 1183 bhp, twin-turbo V8 Ultimate Aero TT had become the world’s fastest production car.

The new 1200 bhp Veyron 16.4 Super Sport responded to SSC to reclaim the record for Bugatti, pushing it to 431.072 km/h (256.67 mph). Adding nearly 20 km/h to a world speed record, after 120 years of human endeavor in the field – a gargantuan achievement.

Shelby Supercars and Koenigsegg are both planning attempts on this record in the near future with the Shelby Tuatara and Koenigsegg Agera r the respective contenders.

The car unveiled in Geneva this week was the roadster version of the Veyron Super Sport, named the Grand Sport Vitesse, and it runs the full 882 kW (1,200 hp) 7.9 liter W16 engine. The Grand Sport Vitesse produces 1,500 Nm of torque between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm – a once-in-a-lifetime experience available at whim.

The acceleration figures are awesome – 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.6 seconds and capable of a top speed of 410 km/h (255 mph), though unless you can convince Bugatti you’re doing top speed runs on a closed circuit, it will remain electronically limited to 375 km/h (233 mph).

The motor is close to identical to the Super Sport engine, getting its extra 200 horsepower (compared to the original Veyron) by using four larger turbochargers and new intercoolers, though the gearing has been altered in the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG).

Perhaps the most enlightening aspect of the Grand Sport Vitesse unveiling was the degree of effort the factory is going to in order to create truly individual cars, plus the extraordinary price of such exclusivity.

One recent stand-out from Bugatti was the L’Or Blanc, which was created in cooperation with Berlin-based porcelain makers Königlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur. Bugatti is currently working on further unusual ways to individualize the Grand Sport.

Several different versions of the Vitesse were on display, each customized from the vast palette of colors, finishes and materials available.

Bugatti used the launch of the Vitesse to demonstrate a new trick – colored carbon fiber. By using colored carbon cloth instead of Henry Ford Black, the visible weave offers a semi-transparent gleam in a certain light. It looks great, and I am certain we’ll see a lot more of this in the near future as designers everywhere realize the possibilities.

The first version of the Vitesse was painted in dark "Jet Grey." I will use the exact wording from the press release for the description: "Instead of two colors, this model uses an interaction between shiny areas (lids, roof and air scoop) and matte surfaces and elements (side parts, exterior mirrors and door handles). The radiator grill and wheel rims have been painted black."

"The orange underside of the rear wing matches the "Tangerine" coloring that Bugatti has used, for example, for the seats, the carpets, the underside of dashboard, the door edging, the contrasting stitching and the Vitesse labeling in the interior."

"All other surfaces, including the carbon parts, are black. In both cases, the aggressive, dynamic look of the vehicles fits in with the positioning of the new Grand Sport Vitesse."

Its price is EUR 1.75 million euros (approx US$2.31 million).

The second Grand Sport (not a Vitesse) on display at Geneva used the aforementioned carbon weave coloring technology to give all the carbon parts (lids, rear end, front spoiler and side skirting) a brown shimmer in an almost bronze shade depending on how the light falls.

Once more from the press blurb, "To create a contrast, the side parts on this Grand Sport, right up to the rear air intakes, are made from polished aluminum. The interior of the sports car, with "Gaucho" colored leather and coffee-colored stitching, complements the exterior."

It costs 1.79 million euros (US$2.36 million).

The second of the two Grand Sport Vitesse models that Bugatti is exhibiting at the 2012 Geneva International Motor Show uses a blue version of the visible carbon fiber.

The press statement describes the car thus: "The upper area of the body is finished in ‘Blue Carbon’ while the roof area and air scoops are ‘Lake Blue.’"

"The lower body panels (side skirting, front spoiler, radiator grill frame and rear apron with diffuser), the inner surfaces of the wheel rims and the underside of the automatically extending rear spoiler are in ‘Light Blue Sport,’ which has a hint of turquoise. The exterior colors are picked up again in the interior. "

"While the large surfaces feature dark blue tones, ‘New Light Blue’ is used for the contrasting stitching and the Vitesse labelling on the seats."

This Vitesse version costs 1.91 million euros (US$2.52 million).

One final point. The original Grand Sport will remain in the range.

One of the contenders for the world’s fastest car is the Koenigsegg Agera R which has been reworked for the 2013 model year, raising peak horsepower from 1115 to 1140hp on E85, giving it a top speed claimed to be in the vicinity of 440 km/h (273 mph) which Koenigsegg intends to prove sometime soon.

If the Agera R can achieve its claimed top speed, it will become the world’s fastest production car, as the record is held by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport at 431 km/h.

Regardless of whether it gets the record or not, the Agera R is unquestionably in the upper echelons of hypercar territory and the figures for speeds below 273 mph are also impressive – 0-300 km/h in 14.53 sec and 0-200 mph in 17.68 seconds – The new model Agera and Agera R show a remarkable number of major improvements over previous Ageras.

The new Agera R has what Koenigsegg claims is the world’s first hollow, one piece, carbon fiber wheel, and it is built using a proprietary method developed and trademarked by Koenigsegg as Aircore Technology.

Koenigsegg claims the Aircore wheels save close to 20 kg (44 lb) in unsprung mass, but no weight has been stated for the wheels, nor has the reference point by comparison with which it saves 5 kg (11 lb) per wheel.

Back in 2007, Koenigsegg offered the "industry’s first carbon fiber wheels" as an option for the CCX and CCR models available then, and also claimed that when combined with carbon-ceramic brakes (using eight- and six-piston calipers front and rear, respectively) they allow the CCX to boast the lowest unsprung weight of any supercar built today."

We’re currently clarifying what weighs what to back up the company’s statements of saving "close to 20kg in unsprung mass" and "the lowest unsprung weight of any supercar."

Getting past how much they weigh, they’re obviously very light, as the only metal part in the new Aircore wheel is the tire valve – the rest is all once piece hollow carbon.

Other major changes

There are numerous evolutions within the Agera and Agera R, and several new technologies applied to automotive use for the first time. One is nano-surfaced cylinder sleeves from Swedish Nanotech company ANS (Applied Nano Surfaces).

The Agera and the Agera R hence have the first production engines in the world to use nano-surfaced cylinder sleeves, which have the benefits of reduced friction and hence less fuel consumption or more power.

Applied Nano Surfaces was founded in 2006 to commercialize IP developed at Uppsala University. Applied Nano Surfaces was set up to create practical industrial applications based on nano-composite technology, but the sales target from the start was any manufacturer of internal combustion engines

According to ANS, approximately 6-9 percent of the energy supplied to an internal combustion engine is lost due to friction from the piston ring and cylinder lining contact. ​ ANS has demonstrated that the friction losses between the piston ring and the cylinder lining can be decreased by between 30 – 50 percent if a low friction nano-composite is applied, compared to today’s cylinder preparation practice. ​ ANS hence claims that the use of its low friction nano-composite cylinder coating will improve engine performance by 1.8 – 4.5 percent.

Obviously the Agera R is looking for benefits in horsepower by applying the technology, but for more mundane users of internal combustion engines, it still looks viable. ANS claims that over the lifetime of an average heavy-duty truck the use of its nano-composite cylinder coating would offer fuel savings of more than EUR 15,000 (approx. US$19,685).

Major new features for the Agera and Agera R

The luggage rack

Koenigsegg innovates every aspect of the Agera R, and that was never more evident than it’s exceedingly clever Thule Roof Box which ensures you can take all your gear as well as having a show car with the standard roof when you get there.

Online Car Configurator

Another new feature of the Koenigsegg customer service offering was announced at Geneva – it’s an on-line configurator that lets you choose any shade or color combination for the interior and exterior, then gives you a PDF brochure of the car you have configured.

Tata Motors continued to upstage its far-longer established automaking peers at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show overnight with the Tata Megapixel concept, a new four-seater range extended electric vehicle (REEV).

The Megapixel is the evolution of last year’s Pixel concept and uses four in-wheel 10 kW motors and a 325 cc single cylinder petrol range-extending engine that generates 22 kW while charging the lithium ion phosphate battery. The result is a range of 900 km (559 miles) and an electric-only range of 87 km (54 miles).

The Megapixel has several other killer party tricks, including acutely turning wheels which give it a turning radius of just 2.8 meters (9.2 ft) and an inductive home charging system – park over the induction pad and it charges itself without needing to be plugged in. There’s also those very useful automatic double doors.

The Megapixel is a good looking little beastie, and was developed by Tata’s design centres in India, the UK and Italy. As a global car concept, this is both the company’s evolving idea of the ideal city car for global urban environments, and the one you’re most likely to see first if you don’t live in India.

Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company, with enormous prospects. A few decades from now, India will be a superpower, with the world’s largest population having transitioned from bicycles to scooter and now aspiring to drive a car. India’s vehicle ownership ratios are currently the same as America’s were in 1912 – when the Model T Ford was top seller.

Tata is already huge with consolidated revenues of US$27 billion in 2010-11 and operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and South Africa. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, the distribution of Fiat cars in India, and the market leader in commercial vehicle sales in India. Indeed, it is already the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer and third largest bus manufacturer. Tata is unquestionably coming to a market near you, so if you think the Megapixel is worthy of consideration, it might yet become available locally.

The Tata Pixel which was shown at Geneva in 2011 had a "Zero Turn" drive system which has been evolved further in the Megapixel. When parking, the four independent electric hub motors drive the wheels in opposite directions, while the front wheels are turned at an acute angle. The unfeasibly small turning circle will enable parking in spaces you wouldn’t even consider in a small car – very impressive and very useful!

The at-home induction charging system is another no-brainer. Time-saving and very convenient benefits are heavy motivators. It only takes a minute or so to plug and unplug a plug-in hybrid, but the two minutes a day you save adds up and it’s one less of life’s chores to tick off the list.

Getting into and out of a small car is also no easy task, and doubly difficult for the taller among us. More accessibility means much easier loading and securing of goods and children and the Megapixel’s double-sliding door system and B-pillar-less design is very clever and genuinely useful.

Inside, it’s bigger than you’d expect because the battery layout and hub motors maximize interior space.

Accordingly, the Megapixel accommodates four adults with luggage.

The front seats are cleverly cantilevered on the central tunnel, releasing floor space underneath the seats for additional storage.

Like every other automotive design house on the planet, Tat’s has focused heavily on the human machine interface (HMI). There’s a docking point on the console for a smart phone and the interface is based around a large touchscreen in the center of the instrument panel. The touch screen controls all the functions of the car, from climate to driving modes.

We know the designers at Lamborghini are a bit unhinged. It’s always been a pre-requisite for working there. Since the takeover by Volkswagen, their mad creations at least work properly, and with the Aventador Lamborghini has been pushing the engineering envelope in material science and engine design. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the automaker unveils its maddest "fighter-aircraft-for-the-road" variant yet, the Aventador J.

At first glance it may look like Lambo has simply lopped off the roof and windshield of the already impossibly-low standard Aventador LP 700-4, but in fact much of the bodywork is new. The roll-over cages have a hint of the KTM X-Bow or even the McLaren Stirling Moss of a few years back, but at 1110 millimeters (44 in) to the top of the roll-over hoops, this is one ground-hugging vehicle.

Thoughtfully, the satnav and aircon systems have been removed to further save weight – it’s highly unlikely you will have time to glance at a satnav screen while driving this thing, and a supply of fresh air to the cockpit is not going to be a problem. Lamborghini has even utilized a new form of lightweight carbon fiber fabric called "Carbonskin" with which to adorn the seats and interior surfaces.

The front of the vehicle is actually narrower than that of the regular Aventador and sports a full-width, and suitably spikey, splitter and air intake combo. An utterly pointless rear view mirror rises on a stalk from the front of the cockpit, and two small glass air-deflectors rise in front of the pilot and co-pilot seating. The striking rear haunches that house the stock 700 bhp Aventador 6.5 liter V12 are topped with a carbon-fiber wing and finished with a massive rear splitter and grill containing four chrome tailpipes. Wheels are aluminum with carbon wings to cool the brakes.

No performance figures are forthcoming from Sant’Agata but they are probably irrelevant. Acceleration will be insane and top speed will be limited only by your ability to maintain control with your obligatory helmet being mashed against the headrests by the wind. This vehicle is of course a billionaire’s toy, designed for being looked at and the occasional very scary track day. It also gains Lamborghini development experience and a huge heap of publicity.

It might even point in the direction of a future Aventador production variant.

Now the bad news. The car you see here is the only one – ever, and it has already been bought for EUR2.1 million (US$2.75M). Life is deeply unfair.

Whispers about a Bentley SUV – some of them coming directly from Bentley chief Wolfgang Duerheimer – have been floating around for ages. At this week’s Geneva Motor Show, Bentley finally puts a face to the rumors. Its EXP 9 F may or may not lead to an eventual production SUV, but it gives the world a look at what a utilitarian Bentley could look like.

There are plenty of luxury SUVs on the market. Every likely suspect (Land Rover, Audi, BMW, etc.) and some not so likely suspects (Porsche) offers one. But a Bentley SUV would be the first ultra-premium SUV. Such a model would be the "Bentley of SUVs," both literally and figuratively.

Bentley envisions the EXP 9 F as a new take on a Bentley grand tourer, a vehicle that is comfortable transitioning from an opera gala to an expedition over sand dunes to the fast lane on the highway. The concept gets customary Bentley power in the form of the Continental’s 600-bhp 6.0-liter twin-turbo W-12 engine, but the automaker leaves open the possibility of offering its new 4.0-liter V-8 option or a hybrid system.

The EXP 9 F is a lesson in repurposing design language in a new application. The model is distinctly Bentley thanks to its bold, round headlights and mesh grille shared with current Continental and Mulsanne models. But it’s more than just a larger, AWD Continental thanks to the squarer, more upright lines throughout. It definitely has the look of an SUV dressed in fancy Bentley clothes.

In designing the concept, Bentley used inspiration from history and other manufacturing disciplines. The "F" stands for falcon, a bird of prey that underpins the car’s power and speed. The wheels were inspired by turbines, with the multiple spokes similar to blades. Bentley says that the wheel nuts reference Bentley Le Mans racers of the 1920s as well as the modern-day Speed 8. The taillights take inspiration from jet fighter engines.

While the outside certainly has the Bentley look, it’s the inside that really separates the EXP 9 F from more pedestrian luxury SUVs. The interior is defined by top-end elements like soft-touch leather; reversible, silk-wool/saddle-leather floor mats; wood veneers; and polished aluminum and bronze. The rear of the cabin is equipped for both work and play, featuring fold-down keyboards and Internet connectivity for the former, and seats with reclining footrests and an infotainment screen for the latter. Underneath the rear armrest, passengers can keep their drinks chilled in an integrated cooler.

The driver is connected to the monstrous W-12 by way of three driving modes: Comfort, Off-Road and Sport. A TFT display provides 3D navigation information front and center, while functions like cabin temperature and entertainment are shared between driver and passenger via a touchscreen mounted on the center console.

Out back, the lower section of the two-piece tailgate serves as both table and bench. If you’re using it as a table, you can set it with utensils from the integrated picnic baskets on either side of the hatch. An awning protects you from the sun’s rays, while two umbrella holders allow you to enjoy your picnic in the rain.

Bentley has not yet committed to building an SUV. It says that it will analyze the reaction of potential buyers and the public at large beginning at the Geneva Motor Show. It will use this reaction in formulating a decision on whether to make the SUV the third model line. Duerheimer has said that the decision should come by the end of 2012.

Last year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type, the Swiss firm Classic Factory unveiled its Growler concept car. Intended as a modern version of the classic sports car, the concept was so well received that a new car-making company, Lyonheart Cars Ltd. has been opened in Coventry, U.K., for the purpose of turning out a limited run of the production version of the Growler – the Lyonheart K.

Creating an E-type for the 21st century (especially without the participation of Jaguar) is setting the bar high … as in, you’d need a ladder to get over it. The Jaguar E-type is such a classic, such a mind-numbingly beautiful car, some might argue that it was responsible for the decline of the British motor car industry. When it was unveiled in 1961, it’s easy to imagine car-makers going back to their own car production lines, laying their heads on the workbench and saying "what’s the point?".

The E-type was one of the all-time classic cars. Brought into the world at a time when European car makers were putting out futuristic designs and the Americans were making their cars look like spaceships, the E-type hit exactly the right mix of the old and the new with its monocoque body, engine bonnet that seemed to go on forever and passenger cabin that looked as if it was hanging on for dear life. There was such an air of pure art to it that even the engine was beautiful, and it was no slouch when you pressed the starter. It’s independent suspension is legendary and it could do 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in 7.1 seconds with a top speed of 150 mph (242 km/h). Unlike many high-performance cars, you could drive it at 10 mph without feeling like it was trying to rattle your fillings out of your teeth. In 14 years of production 70,000 cars were produced, which is remarkable when you consider how notoriously unreliable it was.

Doing credit to that isn’t easy, but the Lyonheart K can’t be faulted for trying. It is a gorgeous car that echoes the E-type’s lines without slavishly following them. It has the same landing-deck bonnet, though the K has slits in it, so you can catch a tantalizing glimpse of the manifold. It even has the same bulge down the middle that now continues across the roof. The K is a bit more angular than the E-type and the cab is longer and roomier, but the design heritage is definitely noticeable.

The Lyonheart K has wire wheels for that E-type touch, but they’re bolted to an all-aluminum chassis with carbon-fiber body panels, bonnet and doors with aluminum side-impact beams. There’s also double wishbone front-suspension with electronic dampers, multi-link rear suspension with electronic dampers, an active differential and speed-sensitive power steering along with Adaptive Dynamics, which analyses speed, steering and body movements up to 500 times a second. Then there’s the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) that cuts in as soon as it detects wheel slippage and a deployable rear spoiler.

There’s even dual petrol fillers, so you don’t have to remember which side of the pump to park at.

It’s not a perfect looking car, by any means. The headlamps, for example, have more of an "I’d rather be an Aston Martin" look to them and the passenger cab doesn’t quite fit and has too soft an appearance as if the designers didn’t want to startle anyone.

Softness is the watchword for the interior as well. Opening the door reveals lots of leather, wool carpets, electric seats with so many settings that you may never get away from the curb, a 7-inch high-resolution touch screen, the usual audio-video and sat nav goodies and you get a choice of wood veneers. It’s no surprise, then that there’s even matching leather trim in the boot.

So it’s comfy, but what about performance? The K sports a 5-liter supercharged V8 engine with 32 valves and variable-inlet camshaft phasing that cranks out 550 bhp. It does 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in 3.7 seconds and it’s maximum speed is electronically limited to 186 mph (300 km/h). Fuel efficiency is rated at 24 mpg (11.9 liters/100 km) and it weighs in at 3500 lb (1575 kg). As to how it handles, that has yet to be seen.

Lyonheart sees the K as the continuation of the tradition of British craftsmanship and top-end car making. It was designed, developed and hand-built in Coventry using only British-made parts. The company has made such an effort to make the K British that it probably runs on warm beer as well as petrol.

"We want to make the ‘Made In England’ label into a truthful concept, not just a statement’: says Robert Palm, CEO of Classic Factory. "Every part of the Lyonheart K is developed, engineered and hand-built in England. The design clues of the Lyonheart K reflect Britishness at its best: cool, elegant, refined, understated yet powerful and dynamic."

All of this comes with a price that’s usually associated with American budget deficits. In the case of the Lyonheart K, it’s (sit down, please) EUR495,000 (US$655,529, GPB418,572). To say that’s a long way from the Jaguar E-type’s GPB1,600 in 1961, is like saying that it’s a bit of a walk from Calais to Vladivostok.

Whether the K is worth it remains an open question. The delivery time for the first cars is 18 months.

Italian coachbuilders Zagato and archetypal Brit sports car company Aston Martin have had a relationship since 1960 when the Milanese artisans created a lightweight racing body for the DB4, by hand naturally. The 19 units made at that time all still exist and are valued at around US$6 million minimum apiece. While AM continues developing the replacement for its aging VH platform it still needs to make a buck and guaranteed collectors items seem to be immune to global financial instabilities. The new Zagato V12 is clearly influenced by that original DB4, and to a lesser extent the 1985 and 2002 incarnations, but here’s the thing – was the new vehicle actually designed by the chaps at Aston Martin and not the sharp suits in Milan?

Yes is the answer. Apparently both the Zagato people and the AM design team submitted final designs and the one from AM was deemed to be closer to the spirit of the "lightweight racer" concept. If you look at the sketches from Zagato shown below you can see that the actual car is more elegant than their "plumper" proposal.

Aston Martin Zagato model sketches

As one can imagine, Zagato is a little sensitive about all this but its clear that Aston Martin wanted a run of 150 cars and that Zagato are not in a position to be able to physically manufacture a run that long anyway. Most of the work was always going to be carried out in the UK, replacing the assembly line of another hand-crafted special vehicle, the even more exclusive One-77, that has just completed its run. Cynical badge engineering? Maybe, but brand and perception are everything when selling vehicles at this level and in the end the car itself has to deliver.

So what do you get for the GBP330,000 (US$525,000) asking price? Racing is a big part of the mystique and two prototypes (nicknamed Zig and Zag) have already raced and completed the ADAC Nürburgring 24 hour endurance. The chassis and engine are unchanged from the Vantage 6.0 liter V12 (510bhp/380kW) but the body is a completely hand-sculpted aluminum and carbon fiber combination that takes 2,000 man hours to construct – the aim being to improve handling and performance by reducing weight.

The design features a number of obligatory Zagato touches, the large front grill, the deeply louvered bonnet, double-bubble roof-line (to accommodate your racing helmets of course), the distinctive rear pillar/rear screen crossover design and the round rear lamp clusters. The racing motif is further reinforced by the exposed rear carbon splitter and raised exhaust exits.

Aston Martin has declined to provide performance figures and one imagines that they feel, just as with the One-77, that’s between them and their extremely wealthy clients. We’ll have to wait until a friendly owner provides a car for somebody to test. To these eyes the design is not initially as pretty and coherent as the standard Aston Martin line but in many ways that’s actually the point. This is meant to be the expression of a more extreme, brutal and practical racing tool with echoes of a "golden era," built by hand with (paradoxically for a racing car) with utmost care, precision and finish. Up close, the bodywork is fantastically detailed.

The interior is of course hand-finished in the finest quilted leather with acres of embroidery and carbon-fiber accents and four unique body paint colors have been created for the 100 hours of paint application required.

Discussion of whether the V12 Zagato is worth the money are of course meaningless. To those who have the means and the appreciation of the brand and historical references that the car embodies, it will be a very desirable piece of engineered art. There is no doubt that in and of itself it is a beautifully made object. In the end it may well also be an extremely astute financial investment. Time will tell. The finished production car will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show in March and first deliveries will be in Q4 2012.

If you are seeking a lightweight, high-powered road car, there’s no more relevant form of motorsport than WRC, where Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb has just won his eighth consecutive drivers title. Hence the presentation of the Citroen DS4 Racing Concept at the Geneva International Motor Show next month (March 2012) is exciting news for small car enthusiasts.

WRC is unquestionably the most relevant sport when it comes to the relationship between perfromance road cars and real world conditions, so you can be certain the DS4R is likely to have precision handling. Citroen has dominated the World Rally Championship for a decade using three different cars – the Xsara, the C4 and now this car’s baby brother, the DS3.

The DS4 Racing gets a wider track front and rear and has been lowered 35 mm with different suspension, 4-piston-caliper 380mm disc brakes, and larger diameter 19-inch wheels and 235/40 tyres.

The engine is a 1.6-litre turbo petrol unit producing 256 bhp, which calculates to a very impressive 160 bhp per liter.

Lashings of carbon fiber adorn the DS4R, including the air diffuser, front splitter and wheel arch extensions, all offset by a textured-effect matt grey paint, which catches the light to further enhance the lines of the car.

No production plans have been announced, so no price has been considered. Perhaps most remarkable of all is that despite what is expected to be extreme performance, the DS4R emits 155 grams of CO2 per kilometer.