Carlo Facetti was one of the most remarkable figures in Italian motor racing for many years. As a trained engineer, he worked for the likes of Lancia and was then also equally skilled behind the wheels of the cars he had created. During the second half of the 1970s, he had set his sights on the Ferrari 308 GTB. Using the early fibreglass bodied version, Facetti's first creations were built to Group 4 specifications. One example was driven by Facetti himself to the Italian Group 4 championship during the 1978 season. A pair were also raced at the Daytona 24 Hours. The featured example was raced at Daytona and then used by Facetti for his successful Italian Championship effort. It was recently recommissioned by Belgian specialist Gipimotor and was demonstrated at the Imola Classic.
Facetti continued to work on the 308 GTB and with the backing of Martino Finotto created a Group 5 version that was dubbed Carma FF after its two creators. It was fitted with a turbocharged version of the V8 engine that featured bespoke four-valve heads designed by Facetti himself. It also featured a completely new body and massive brakes that were identical to those fitted on the Porsche 935 and 936. Showcasing the car's potential, Facetti set the fastest lap of all in the Carma FF at the Daytona 24 Hours. Sadly, the radiator was holed prompting a retirement. It was raced through to the end of the year and has survived in remarkably original condition and was shown recently at Retromobile.
Porsche today revealed an all-new Coupé version of the Cayenne. Two versions are available to order right now, headlined by the 541bhp Turbo.

Auctioneer RM Sotheby's will host the company's first ever sale in Essen as part of the Techno Classica show early in April. A startling 217 cars have been consigned and today we take a look at four of our favourites. Particularly appealing is this Lancia Stratos HF Stradale that has had just three owners from new. It is still in as-new condition and has just 11,800 km on the odometer. To become the fourth owner of the azure blue Stratos RM estimate a bid of around €500,000 is needed.
There are two other Italian sports cars offered in 'as new' condition. The first is this 403 kmLamborghini Diablo SE30 and the second is the fifth of five Italdesign Zerounos built in 2018, which has yet to be registered for the road.
From a completely different era is this Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A consigned by a Swiss collector. It was originally delivered to the United Kingdom and was recently established by Mercedes-Benz Classic to still contain all of its major original components. With an estimate of €2-2.4 million, the rare 540 K looks set to become the top seller of the auction.
Today, Lister announced the LFT-C, which is a drop-top version of the LFT-666 Coupe. Ready in time for the coming summer, production of the 666bhp, 205mph machine is strictly limited to 10 examples.

Following the W12-engined versions of the third incarnation of the Continental GT, Bentley have now introduced the V8 in both Coupe and Convertible form. Especially for the third generation Continental GT, the twin-turbo V8 has been reworked and now produces 542bhp, which is a 42bhp increase over the previous model. Deliveries of the new Continental GT V8 in the United States will start in the third quarter of 2019, while the rest of the world will have to wait until 2020.
In the first years of Group C racing, the newly developed four-litre DFL version of the Ford Cosworth DFV engine powered a choice of cars. First and foremost, Ford's own C100, which was raced in 1981 and 1982 by a factory team. The initial design was by Len Bailey but this was first refined by John Thompson, who created a honeycomb aluminium monocoque and subsequently by Tony Southgate but his Mk3 version never raced. Ultimately, the car was no success in the World Championship but did do remarkably well in the DRM and Interserie championships. The featured example has the best track record of all and even briefly led at Le Mans in 1982 ahead of the Porsche 956s.
Another Group C car of the era using the DFL was the Rondeau M482. Built by the 1980 Le Mans winning team, this was the first Rondeau built with ground effects in mind and used the input from ground-breaking aerodynamicist Max Sardou. Like Ford's own C100, the M482 was rarely competitive and even though one was raced at Le Mans through to 1987, no results of note were scored.

This weekend, the 2019 Formula 1 season will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix. To mark the occasion, we today feature three interesting cars from the sport's rich past. The most modern is this Williams FW07C that serves as a reminder that the team that is struggling now once was a dominant force. The third evolution of the mighty FW07, the 'C' was raced to several victories during the 1981 season. The highlighted example is the very first built and was driven to a debut victory by Alan Jones at the USA Grand Prix West.
An interim car, the four-cylinder engined Lotus 21 of 1961 was used awaiting the development of the Coventry Climax V8. It nevertheless won a Grand Prix in the hands of Innes Ireland and this car was used by a young Jim Clark to score his very first Formula 1 victory.
In addition to the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Melbourne, this weekend will also see a pair of sports car races at Sebring; the 1000-mile FIA WEC race today and the Sebring 12 Hours tomorrow. So it is very fitting that we today also take a look at the Connaught C-Type that made its belated F1 debut in the 1959 American Grand Prix, which was run at Sebring that year. The unique 'toothpaste tube' bodied machine was later also entered in the Indy 500 where it failed to qualify. The C-Type did not really come into its own until it entered historic racing. Since the early 1990s, it has been successful all over Europe including at prestigious events like the Monaco Historic Grand Prix and the Goodwood Revival.

The demise of Lancia is one of the saddest developments in recent years. To remind why, we have today taken a look at the Group A Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione. This is the ultimate evolution of the hugely successful Martini liveried Lancia rally car that dominated the World Rally Championship between 1987 and 1992. Nicknamed 'Deltona' courtesy of its wide body-kit, the 365 bhp racer was successful in 1992 with eight wins. The featured example was raced to second in the 1992 Safari Rally by Juha Kankkunen.
Of the same era is the Venturi 600 LM that was raced in the BPR Championship and at Le Mans during the mid-1990s. Powered by a 600bhp, twin-turbocharged version of the PRV V6 engine, the 600 LM was one of the first GT1 cars built. Chassis LM005 boasted an art-car livery and won the GT1 class at the 1995 Paris 1000 km.
Defying physics, Cyan Racing have created a concept car based on the Lynk & Co 03 WTCR car that sends all of its 528bhp to the front wheels. A production road car will be developed from the show car but we do not know if it will feature the same highly tuned turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

It is McLaren Monday today with the introduction of the production version of the Senna GTR. Originally announced a year ago, this is the track-day version of the already very extreme Senna road car. It is more powerful than the road car, and it also features a revised aerodynamics package, which includes a mighty rear wing with very deep end plates. Production of the GBP 1.1 million Senna GTR will be limited to just 75 examples and all build slots were allocated within weeks after the launch.
To mark the introduction of the Senna GTR, we have taken a closer look at two further McLarens. The first of the pair is the P1 GT that was created to custom order by specialists Lanzante. It is based on the P1 GTR, which is the Senna GTR's predecessor as McLaren's range-topping track-day car. It is inspired by the F1 GT and accordingly features a bespoke long-tail bodywork. The P1 GT was first seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year and Lanzante will build no more than 13 examples.
McLaren's first World Championship winning car was the M23, which was raced for several seasons. The Gordon Cuppock designed machine has become famous in Texaco-Marlboro livery but in 1973, they were painted in Yardley colours. One of these early cars is the featured example, which was driven to victory in the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix by Peter Revson. After spending many years in the familiar red and white, it was more recently restored to its Yardley configuration. Chassis M23-4 was most recently raced at the 2018 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.

Today, we round up our coverage of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show with a closer look at eight further releases. The show featured the first impression of the most expensive new car ever; the €11 million (+taxes) Bugatti La Voiture Noire. Strictly a one-off, the Chiron based machine was built for a yet unnamed customer. Strong rumours suggest that this customer is actually former Porsche and Volkswagen CEO Ferdinand Piech. The unique design of La Voiture Noire is inspired by the legendary Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic Coupe.
Another high-performance car that debuted at Geneva is the Koenigsegg Jesko that is due to replace the Agera range. It is powered by a further developed twin-turbo V8 that produces 1,280bhp on regular gasoline and a startling 1,600bhp on E85 biofuel, which allows for a higher boost level. The mighty engine is mated to a proprietary nine-speed gearbox. Named after company founder Christian von Koenigsegg's father, the Jesko also boasts an aggressive body with a massive rear wing.
Among the most interesting concept cars launched are the all-electric Italdesign DaVinci and the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept. Alfa Romeo offered a first glimpse of the company's upcoming all-electric SUV with the Tonale show car.