With the official Test Day on Sunday, the 80th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans hit the ground running. Most sections of the 'Circuit de la Sarthe' are public roads, so the traditional Test is the only opportunity the entrants have to run on the track before the race week. For cars, teams and/or drivers that have not raced at Le Mans in the last three years, participating in the test is required to qualify for the race scheduled on June 16/17 this year. The 2012 Test Day was particularly highly anticipated as it finally offered an opportunity to see how the Audis and Toyotas stacked up. Other cars making their public testing debut included the highly unusual DeltaWing Nissan and the new Aston Martin AMR-One based Pescarolo 03 Judd. Not on the race's entry list but still allowed to participate in the test was Sebastien Loeb Racing with their Oreca 03 Nissan. The legendary rally racer picked up part of the driving duties provided a reminder that he is as quick on the road as off.
For the first of three scheduled visits to the track this year, our reporters spent the weekend in Le Mans to capture the test in its entirety. This has resulted in a class-by-class report, which also serves as a preview for next week's race. It is illustrated by a 120-shot gallery.
In the coming days you can expect a closer look at some of the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans protagonists and further reports from the track once the cars go back out on track again on Wednesday June 13th.

As mentioned in our report, this Ferrari 1512 F1 ranked among our favourite out on track during the recent Monaco Historic Grand Prix. Only three examples were built of this type and it was the first ever car to compete with a flat-12 engine. Constructed for the final two years of the 1.5 litre Formula 1 regulations, the diminutive engine could rev up to 12,000 rpm and produced a claimed 225 bhp despite its modest size. The example that was at Monaco has recently been restored from the ground-up with help from the original designer Mauro Forghieri. Sadly, it did not run very well yet but knowing the people behind the project, we expect the car to be in fighting form in September during the Goodwood Revival. It did run long enough for us to capture enough material for this 18-shot gallery.
Of the many Ferraris on display this weekend at Villa d'Este, two were Pinin Farina bodied 212 Inters. The earliest was this Cabriolet, which is the second or third Ferrari bodied by what would later become the company's carrozzeria of choice. Having benefited from a complete restoration at the hands of Ferrari Classiche, it was presented in spectacular condition. Of slightly later vintage was a Coupe, which was used by Roberto Rosselini and Ingrid Bergman during their honeymoon. The newlyweds drove the car, with suitcases strapped onto the roof, from Rome to Stockholm. Our 12-shot gallery also features pictures from one of the other Pinin Farina Coupes.
Especially for the British market, BMW M has launched a 'Performance Edition' of both the M3 and the M5. Having received both cosmetic and performance upgrades, production is strictly limited to just 30 examples of each.

With a clean sweep of the silverware, this Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Figoni Coupe took the 2012 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este by storm. Originally built as a show car for the 1933 Paris Salon, this late 6C 1750 also raced at Le Mans in 1935, winning its class. It was presented this weekend for the first time since a complete and sensitive restoration was completed. The work started back in 2008 when the current only finally managed to convince the longtime South African custodian to part with the car. His love affair with the car started many years earlier as he explained us that he still remembers vividly seeing the car on the road in Johannesburg while riding to school on his bicycle. At Villa d'Este, we captured every detail of the car and its very interesting history, which has resulted in a detailed article, illustrated by an 18-shot gallery.
The most recent product of Ferrari's one-off program is this SP12 EC, which was commissioned by legendary guitarist and longtime car enthusiast Eric Clapton. Based on 458 Italia underpinnings the lines are a tribute to the 512 BB and were penned by Ferrari Centro Stile and Pininfarina. Clapton is particularly fond of the 512 BB; over the years he has owned three different examples. Sadly, Ferrari only released three pictures but we hope to get a better look sometime in the future.

Celebrating its 140th season as a luxury hotel this year, Villa d'Este hosted the annual 'Concorso d'Eleganza' on Saturday. First held in 1929, it is one of the oldest events of its type and accordingly it is steeped in tradition. Among them is the private nature of the show and a relatively low number of entries; 51 in this edition. Each year sees new classes emphasising various themes and trends. Among theses classes in 2012 were one for 'Art of Streamlining', 'The Ferrari 250 Dynasty' and the 'Heroes of Le Mans'. This resulted in a very varied entry that ranged from early Rolls-Royces to a Lamborghini Countach and a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917K. These same cars, completed by a collection of motorcycles, bubble cars and Motorsport BMWs, were lined up the following day at the nearby Villa Erba for the event's public day. As tradition dictates the main trophy, the 'Coppa d'Oro', is picked by public referendum at Villa d'Este. To be more in line with similar events, there is also a best of show picked by the specialist Jury and the public at Villa Erba can also pick a winner. As happened only once before, each of the three groups came to the same conclusion and we would be the last to say they were wrong.
Our photographers spent the better part of three days on the shores of Lake Como to capture the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in its entirety. Their mouth-watering 200-shot gallery serves to illustrate a class-by-class report featuring most of the event's highlights. For good measure, we have also added a 50-shot gallery from Villa Erba.
As always, you can expect more detailed features on the individual cars that starred at Villa d'Este in the coming days and weeks.

For a brief moment today at Villa d'Este, we saw the first glimpse of what is currently known as the Project AM 310. We understand this to be the replacement for the DBS launched nearly five years ago. It uses the same VH architecture but with much more carbon-fibre composites to increase efficiency. The venerable 6-litre V12 is also back but now tweaked to produce a hefty 573 bhp, which is 63 bhp up on the current DBS engine. Further details are still elusive, however, we did not want to keep these first shots from you.
Also at Villa d'Este, event sponsor BMW and local coach-builder Zagato revealed the BMW Zagato Coupe. The styling was a joint effort and accordingly, the fully functional show car combines styling cues derived from both pallets; the front fascia is similar to the BMW Z4, while the double-bubble roof is vintage Zagato styling. In the great custom coach-building tradition, the one-off body was hand-crafted in aluminium by the experts at Zagato. Currently, we have not received any specifications but it would surprise us if the BMW Zagato Coupe would not be closely related to the top-of-the-range Z4.
At Monaco today, Renault marked the 50th anniversary of the Alpine A110 with the unveiling of the Renault Alpine A110-50. The styling of the spectacular coupe is derived from the DeZir concept, while the chassis and drivetrain come from the Megane Trophy cars. This means the bright blue machine weighs only 880 kg and also boasts a 400 bhp V6 engine. Hopefully the striking Renault Alpine A110-50 will quickly find its way to the showroom floors.

This weekend the fabulous Villa d'Este hotel on the shores of Lake Como will host the annual 'Concorso d'Eleganza'. The exclusive event is a set fixture on our calendar and to warm you up for our upcoming report and gallery, we have taken a closer look at four cars that starred here last year.
One of the most elegant entrants of 2011 was this Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Figoni Cabriolet. Cherished throughout its life, this rare French coach-built 8C remained unrestored until very recently. We actually managed to capture the car in both its unrestored and current full restored condition. The extent and quality of the work done can be seen in our 18-shot gallery. Another significant Alfa Romeo on display last year was the ex-Aldo Bardelli and ex-Rosso Bianco 33/2 Spider. Although extensively used in period, the lovely V8-engined machine has survived in remarkably unmolested condition. The current owner only carefully rebuilt the car where necessary to allow it to run again, so as these 18 photographs show, this a true time-warp machine. Found with its body cut into four pieces, this Siata 208 CS Balbo Coupe required a lot more work to get back to the spectacular condition it was shown in at Villa d'Este. The extensive project was handled by both Dutch and Italian experts. Ideally suited to a drive around Lake Como, is this Aston Martin DB5 Convertible. It is one of just 123 open DB5s built and has been beautifully restored with a blue over tan colour scheme.
Among the many spectacular machines expected to star at Villa d'Este in the coming days are cars ranging from a Delahaye 145 Chapron Coupe to a Ferrari 250 LM and a road-going Ford GT40 Mk III.

Ever since the car's single outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008, we have hoped for a return to the track of the striking Dome S102. Instead, the car sat stationary for the better part of four years in the lobby of the Japanese manufacturer's headquarters. The wait is finally over as over the winter, the car has been rebuilt to S102.5 specifications to comply with the latest regulations. Fielded by Pescarolo Team, it returned to racing earlier this month at the 6 hours of Spa Francorchamps and will also be back at Le Mans next month. To mark that occasion, we have taken a closer look at the hows and whys of this fascinating story with Dome founder Minoru Hayashi in a key role. The article is illustrated by an all-revealing 18-shot gallery of the car during the Spa weekend.
Motor sport at a slightly different level (no pun intended), is Mitsubishi's entry in this year's Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Of the two car entry, the i-MiEV Evolution is the most interesting. Built around a bespoke tubular frame, the car boasts three 80 KW electric motors and is clothed by a carbon fibre shell. The i-MiEV Evolution will be driven by Hiroshi Masuoka.
This week both Renault and Abarth launched limited edition versions of their hot hatches; the Twingo R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7 and 695 Edizione Maserati respectively. With 177 bhp on tap, the latter is the quickest of the pocket rockets.
Somewhat overlooked, and definitely poorly lit at this year's Geneva Motor Show was the AC 378 GT Zagato. Effectively a production version of the 2009 Perana Z-One show car, it combines a powerful American V8, spaceframe chassis and lightweight Zagato body. We understand production has already commenced.

Star of the various auctions during last week's Monaco Historic Grand Prix was this Ferrari 625 TRC sold for just over EUR 5 million by RM Auctions. It is one of just two 500 TRCs built in period with the larger, 2.5 litre '625' engine. Compared to the two-litre unit fitted to all other TRCs, the bigger unit had an additional 30 bhp on tap. Both cars were purchased by John von Neumann, who was the Ferrari distributor for California and also an avid racer himself. He campaigned the two cars with considerable success and they were later also raced by the likes of Richie Ginther and Ken Miles. To extend their racing careers, both were later re-engined and one even campaigned as a Ford V8-powered drag-racer. Today both examples have been restored with Ferrari V12 engines, effectively making them 250 TRs. The example sold by RM Auctions was owned for three decades by an American collector, who for many years raced it in historic events. Although not fitted, the original four cylinder engine was also part of the sale. The other was recently restored and re-united with the original V12 engine fitted in the car by Von Neumann back in 1958.
Over the years, we have captured both these cars at various events. This has resulted in a 24-shot gallery of the two 625 TRCs originally built for and raced by John von Neumann.

During the 1950s soon to be arch-rivals Ferrari and Porsche mostly competed in different classes but from the early 1960s the two legendary manufacturers gradually became direct competitors. One example was the European Hill Climb Championship for which both produced two-litre prototypes. Porsche had the upper hand in 1967 but the threat of an-all new flat-12 powered Ferrari, inspired the German manufacturer to push the envelop further than ever before. The result was the 909 Bergspyder, which tipped the scales at just 385 kg or 850 lbs. One example of the extremes the engineers went through, was the use of beryllium brakes; although very light, beryllium dust is toxic so the discs had to be chrome plated before they could be used. In order to ensure not a single steel nut, screw or washer was used, Porsche's motorsport supremo Ferdinand Piech supposedly went over the entire car with a magnet. The complete, and at times baffling history of the 909 Bergspyder can be found in our detailed article, which illustrated by an all-revealing 12-shot gallery of the example that is current on display in the Porsche Museum.
Porsche are again pushing the envelop with the 918 Spyder, which is scheduled to be launched in 2013. Built around a carbon fibre composite monocoque, the new supercar is powered by a hybrid drivetrain that consists of a competition derived, 570 bhp V8 engine and two electric motors. Following the release of pictures of a bare prototype, the German manufacturer have now published these pictures of a very thinly disguised test car. The 'camouflage' used is inspired by the 1970 Le Mans winning 917.
During this weekend's MINI United event at Paul Ricard, MINI revealed the limited edition John Cooper Works GP. Like the previous version, which was past on the first generation MINI Cooper, only 2,000 examples will be produced of what promises to be the fastest road-going MINI yet. No technical details have been revealed but according to MINI, the car is capable of lapping the Nurburgring in 8:23; a full 19 seconds faster than its predecessor.

This weekend Monaco hosted the biennial Historic Prix, which like the modern equivalent is held on what are normally the Principality's public roads. The allure of Monaco always attracts a stellar field of historic racing cars that this year ranged from late 1920s Grand Prix Bugattis to early 1980s F3s. The field of around 250 cars was spread over seven groups, including one for sports racers. Among the many interesting racers present was the Lotus 18 driven to back-to-back victories by Sir Stirling Moss and a very rare Ferrari 1512 F1, which featured the manufacturer's very first flat 12 engine. With the Armco barriers literally at arms-length, the Circuit de Monte Carlo always provides for exhilarating races. This year's Historic Grand Prix was no exception and one driver even managed to take a win after starting from the very last row of the in spite of the track's notoriously few overtaking opportunities.
In addition to the on-track activities there were also various classic car auctions. Most successful was RM Auctions' second Monaco Sale, which saw well over EUR 30 million worth of machinery change hands.
For the fourth time, our photographers ventured to the 'Cote d'Azur' to capture the event and the auctions in full detail. This has resulted in a detailed article and two galleries with a total of 300 shots. As always, you can expect a closer look at some of the event's best cars in the coming weeks but for now our Monaco Historic Grand Prix report should keep you busy for quite some time.

While we were in Monaco for the Historic Grand Prix, the sad news reached us of Carroll Shelby's passing at the age of 89. Born in Texas on January 11th, 1923, the multi-talented Shelby first took on the racing establishment as a driver and later as a manufacturer. Among his many great successes behind the wheel ranks the outright victory at Le Mans in 1959 as the finest with the Aston Martin DBR1. He will, however, be best remembered for the Cobra he created by shoe-horning Ford's small block V8 engine into an AC Ace chassis. This particular example was the very first Cobra and had remained in Shelby's ownership ever since. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Cobra and the various celebrations planned at events like the Goodwood Revival and Monterey Motorsport Reunion will now no doubt also become a celebration of the man who was responsible for one of the world's most legendary cars. The ultimate evolution of the Cobra was the Daytona Coupe, which sported a slippery body penned by Peter Brock. In this guise, the Cobra was also able to take on arch-rival Ferrari at the high speed European track and brought Shelby and Ford the much coveted class victory at Le Mans in 1964. They did one better in 1966, when the Ford GT40 Mk II, scored a one-two-three victory in the 24 Hours. This finally brought an end to the stronghold Ferrari had held on the race since Shelby's own victory as a driver back in 1959. In the following years, various evolutions of the GT40 would take another three Le Mans wins. While Shelby stopped his competition program in the late 1960s, he remained an active member of the American automotive industry. He had a hand in a large number high performance models from Ford and Dodge, while he also continued producing cars under his own name. The 'Texas Chicken Farmer' will be missed; a true legend has passed.

Having suffered German and Italian domination for many years, both the French and British were very keen to return to Grand Prix racing immediately after the War with new, superior machines. Using governing backing, the French created the CTA Arsenal. The project was the brainchild of Le Mans-winner Raymond Sommer, who called in the help of CTA (Centre for Technical studies for Automobiles and bikes) for the design and the army 'Arsenal' for the construction of the cars. CTA also employed the services of Albert Lory, who had previously penned the all conquering Delage 15-S8 Grand Prix racer. The result was a very interesting design, which featured a 1.5 litre supercharged V8 and torsion-bar suspension. Sadly, the high profile project failed miserably and after two fruitless attempts in the French Grand Prix, the cars were retired from active service at the end of the 1948 season. One example has, fortunately, survived and was prepared to compete in the 2010 Monaco Historic Grand Prix. This allowed us to capture the unusual machine in full detail.
The CTA-Arsenal article serves as our final preview for this weekend's edition of the biennial Monaco Historic Grand Prix. This time it will not be one of the competitors but the 250-car strong field does include machinery ranging from a Ferrari 1512, various examples of the March 701, a Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler to Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza. After the weekend, we will provide a full report of all the on-track activities as well as the Bonhams and RM Auctions sales hosted by the small principality.