It might come as a surprise to some of you that the first proper sports car was not built in Stuttgart, Coventry or Modena, but in Trenton, New Jersey. Named after a local county, the Mercer Type 35J Raceabout was the first machine to combine a relatively powerful engine with a drivable chassis. Even by today's standards the Mercer is still a fine handling machine, which can not be said for most high performance cars built in that era. Although it was intended as a road car, Raceabouts scored hundreds of victory across the United States. A factory entered example came very close to winning the Indy 500 against much more powerful, purpose built racing cars. Eventually it came second to a 4-valve per cylinder Peugeot Grand Prix car. Today only seventeen examples are known to exist, which in combination with its fine handling and racing record makes the Type 35J one of the most desirable brass-era cars.
Nearly fifty years later there was little that reminded of America's pioneering role. Road racing was dominated by European sourced racing cars, which had completely taken over from the backyard specials. In 1958 a very young and wealthy American by the name of Lance Reventlow decided it was time to take on the European invasion with an all-American racing car. Built by a dream-team of designers and fabricators, his Scarabs quickly grew out to be the cars to beat in the SCCA sanctioned events. In the hands of the likes of Reventlow himself, Chuck Daigh, Carroll Shelby and Augie Pabst these beautiful V8-engined machines remained competitive for many seasons. Generally considered as the finest front-engined racing cars, the Scarabs not only beat the best front-engined European cars, but were also able to fight off the 'superior' mid-engined machines. The featured example is the prototype, which was used by Reventlow and later converted into a road car.

There was a time when all Rolls-Royce chassis were clothed by custom coachbuilders, but today even Rolls-Royce have succumbed to series-production. Pininfarina have made a rare exception with the Hyperion, which will be shown for the first time at Pebble Beach. The best manufacturers can offer to replace the custom coachwork are lavish options. Lamborghini has jumped on that band-wagon with the Murcielago LP640 Roadster Versace. As with the Coupe model, the Roadster comes equipped with an interior designed by the Italian couturier.
Porsche have rounded off the face-lift of 911(997)-range with the introduction of the four-wheel drive versions, headlined by the Carrera 4S Cabriolet.
At the upcoming British Motor Show in London a new Spanish manufacturer will debut what looks like yet another Lotus 7 clone. Dubbed the IFR Automotive Aspid, the two seater comes equipped with a very powerful four cylinder engine.
After an absolute glorious period in the 1960s and early 1970s, sports car racing lost its edge. Towards the end of the decade, it all turned around. Today we take a look at two very successful cars from that period; the triple World Championship winning Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Turbo and the 1984 IMSA GTP Championship winning March 84G.
To finish off this update we have dug deep into motoring history and have come up with the American Underslung Traveler. Built between 1907 and 1914, the American Underslung featured, as its name suggests, a revolutionary 'underslung' chassis. Today only very few of these wonderful machines have survived and the featured example sure is one of the best.