Earlier this week we already published our Essen Motor Show coverage and now it's time to look at some of the novelties more closely. Although Gumpert Apollo was not unveiled in Essen, it was our first encounter with this, the latest German supercar. At the Brabus stand a supercar in sheep's clothing was launched; the 730 bhp S V12 S Biturbo. Techart were present in force and their stand was highlighted by the impressive Boxster Widebody. On the Toyo stand Kleemann debuted the 595 bhp ML 50K S8.
Just before we left off for Essen news reached us of Chrysler's upcoming Detroit concept car. After reintroducing the Charger, it is now time for the Challenger to be modernized. Ford used the little known Thailand International Motor Expo to take the wraps of their latest 4-Trac Truck Concept.
Even though the new Formula 1 season is still months away, Toyota recorded the first miles with their 2006 contender yesterday; the TF106.

With the holiday month approaching quickly the Ultimatecarpage.com T-Shirts are flying out of our store! This is your last chance to order the exclusive shirts and with some sizes already sold out time is running out.

Europe's show season traditionally ends in style with the annual Essen Motorshow. With a specific focus on tuning and motorsport it's not quite like conventional motorshows. The eighteen halls are shared by official manufacturers, a large number of third party suppliers and classic car brokers.
This year's show opened for the public on Friday and should provide visitors a day's worth of fun. The big tuning companies were in full force and unveiled some high performance magic. Highlights were the 730 bhp Brabus S-Class, Techart's 'Widebody' version of the latest Boxster and Heico's 350 bhp S40 based HS4 Odin. In the big hall Opel took the wraps off the Meriva OPC and Volkswagen launched their new assault on the legendary Dakar Rally. Pininfarina's 75th anniversary was also celebrated with a display of their designs, which included the rarely shown four-door Ferrari Pinin.
We spent most of the press and trade day to capture the most remarkable vehicles on display. Our findings are compiled in a full report and a 150-shot slideshow.

Porsche's racing history needs no introduction, but history shows that it wasn't a priority in the early years of the company. When a privateer proved to be successful with Porsche specials, work was started on a racer of their own. This week we take a look at the resulting 550 Coupe, Porsche's very first proper racing car.
Forced induction has been a popular method of increasing engine performance and this year two more 'charged' cars were unveiled. In January Saleen took the wraps off the S7 Twin Turbo, which further increased the American supercar's appeal. Volkswagen used a layout pioneered by Lancia in the 1980s with the Delta S4 rally car. The latest version Golf GT, features a supercharger and a turbocharger.
Ever since the introduction of the 911 GT3, the results in the NGT/GT2 class have been quite predictably dominating. Earlier this year the TVR Tuscan T400R was a rare exception to that rule when an example took a class victory in the Spa 1000km round of the LMES.
Automotive design evolved at a rapid pace in the 1960s from the round shapes that dominated the fiftees to the minimalistic wedge craze of the seventees. This is underlined by the night and day difference between the two one-offs featured; the Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone Jet of 1961 and the Ferrari 512 S Modulo of 1970.

One of the most famous of all muscle cars is the Plymouth Road Runner, which was available with a wide variety of very powerful V8 engines. Inspired by the famous cartoon figure, the Road Runner was equipped with a horn that produced the bird's famous beep-beep sound.
Although Honda is best known for the many medium and large sedans, there have been two impressive sportscars in their line-up. While the (Acura) NSX has recently been cancelled, Honda just launched a new version of the S2000 complete with a new 2.2 litre engine. To celebrate 'Bentley Boy' Woolf Barnato's famous race against the Blue Train between Cannes and London in 1930, Bentley have issued the limited edition Arnage Blue Train. Sadly it is 'look, but don't touch' for most of us since all thirty examples have already been spoken for.
Last week we looked at a one-off Ferrari that was full blood racer, like today's featured car, most of them were show cars. Unveiled at the 1954 New York Motorshow, the pictured 250 Europa Cabriolet is the only one of its kind bodied by Pinin Farina. One of the Italian marque's biggest rivals in recent years is McLaren. With the M19 the British team took a decisive step towards their first of two world championships in the 1970s.
To finish off this week's update on a high we would like to point at the stunning Auburn 12-160A with a glorious Speedster body.

Although a Ferrari one-off is not overly rare, there are only a few that were built without the approval of the 'old man'. Of these, this week's feature car is without a doubt the most famous. Nicknamed Breadvan after its unique rear end, this GT-racer was built for Count Volpi from a 250 GT SWB after Enzo Ferrari refused to deliver a 250 GTO to him. Developed by Bizzarrini the Breadvan nearly dethroned Ferrari works racers at Le Mans. In a rare public appearance it was recently offered by Christie's where our photographers were ready to capture it in pictures.
While the American and Japanese manufacturers showcased their latest accessories at the SEMA Show last week, Mini announced a heavily tuned version of the Cooper S. Known as the Works Grand Prix, it is equipped with a 218 bhp engine and considerable weight reduction by removing the rear seats. Lexus quietly took the wraps of the LF-Sh Concept in Tokyo, which is clearly pre-production version of the next generation LS.
In the early 1950s there were a small number of American sports car manufacturers, one of which was Muntz. The company's final attempts to conquer the market was the Muntz Roadster, intended to compete with the Corvette. Sadly only four were constructed.
We started today's news off with a historic racing car and we would like to finish with two more. First up is the Alfa Romeo Giulia 1750 GTAm, the flared successor of the legendary 1600 GTA that dominated the European Touring Car Championship in 1970 and 1971. Finally we would like to highlight the Tyrrell 002, the manufacturer's second Formula 1 racer, which helped claim the 1971 Constructor's Championship.

Las Vegas is the host of the annual SEMA Show, one of the most extravagant tuner car gatherings in the world. Organized by the Special Equipment Market Association, this Show attracts not only tuning companies, but also a whole host of major manufacturers. With the number of motion pictures and television shows on the tuner subject increasing every year, it was no surprise that this year's edition of SEMA Show was bigger and more extreme than ever. Even 'conservative' Volvo was on hand last week to unveil the 408 bhp XC70 AT and the open-wheeled T6 Roadster.
The Show's featured manufacturer this year was Honda, who took the opportunity to showcase their full range equipped with aftermarket parts. Highlights were the Acura RSX A-Spec Concept and the Honda Civic Si Sport Concept. Mitsubishi released the Eclipse Ralliart, which combines the new coupe's body with the 400 bhp drivetrain from the Lancer Evolution. Ford continued their retro craze with the GTX1 Concept, celebrating the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours victory of the rare open topped GT40 racer.
A small selection of the hundreds of vehicles on display in the desert city can be found on our SEMA Show page.

When the first world championship for GT cars was announced in 1962, Ferrari went all out and developed the legendary 250 GTO that went on to many victories. A lot has changed since then and for decades the Italian manufacturer left tin top racing to others and decided to concentrate on Formula 1. From time to time the factory would give loyal customers backdoor support for privateer efforts, which were more often than not, quite successful. When Frederic Dor expressed his wishes to campaign a Ferrari in the FIA GT championship in the late 1990s there were little resources available at the factory to support him. Fortunately he did not give up and commissioned Prodrive to build him a racing version of the Ferrari 550 Maranello and the rest is history. First entered in 2001, the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello scored numerous victories including a class win in the 2003 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Now that the successful racer is approaching the end of its career we take a close look at the 550 GTS Maranello with an indepth article and a 48-shot gallery of many examples in action. Wouter Melissen captured the V12 racers on Europe's most famous tracks like Spa Francorchamps and Le Mans.