While the racing world was glued to their televisions on Father�s day watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House hosted the 19th annual Eyes on Design Automotive Exhibition in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. This car show is like no other in several ways. Judging is based solely on design, class winners are given trophies during a roving presentation on the show field, and the overall theme and categories are always unique. Last year we sent Rob Clements down to the "Motor City" for the first time and it was love at first sight, so it was no problem to get him to visit the unique event again this year. He particularly looks forward to this event because it brings out many rare and unusual cars that may not be up to �Concours Quality� for Meadow Brook, Amelia Island, or Pebble Beach. Highlights of this year�s affair include a rare DeSoto with in-dash phonograph, a Maserati motorcycle, some wild hotrods, and a surprising best in show winner. The only complaint was the annual migration of annoying mayflies from Lake St.Clair.
Now that the Le Mans storm has died down somewhat, it's time to take a close look at Rob's report and a 140-shot slideshow.

Imagine using the V8 out of Renault's recent Monaco Grand Prix winning Formula 1 car for a two-seater sportscar. That's exactly what Bugatti did in the early 1930s when they pulled out the twin-cam eight cylinder engnine from the multiple Monaco-winning Type 51 to form the now legendary Type 55 Super Sport. Combining the racing pedigree with Jean Bugatti's beautiful two-seat roadster design, the featured Type 55 is one of the all-time greats.
After Ferrari decided to shift their focus on Formula 1 in 1973, development of other racing cars were left to independent parties. One of the most prominent of these is Michelotto, who has been commisioned both by customers and the factory to turn Ferrari road cars into racers. In this week's update we take a look at two of these; one little known and the other currently setting the GT-Racing scene on fire. As a final development of Ferrari's transversly V8-engined chassis, the 308 GT/M served mainly as a test bed and was only raced once. Only a few months into its racing career the Michelotto-developed F430 GTC is set to replace the Porsche 911 GT3 as the dominant force in the GT2 class. To celebrate their recent positive results we've added 12 additional shots from Le Mans with more detailed specifications.
This week two new German two-door powerhouses saw the light of day. From Munich comes the M6 Cabriolet and from Stuttgart the all new CL 600.
While most eyes were on Le Mans last weekend, Rob Clements was in Grosse Pointe, Michigan to cover the annual Eyes on Design Exhibition. To warm you up for his detailed feature to be published later this week we now take a look at the best of show winning Oldsmobile Toronado.

Well over two hundred thousand people flocked to the 13.6 km long Le Mans track last week to attend the annual highlight on the motorsport calendar: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Held for the 74th time this weekend, it is so much more than just a race; it's a celebration of everything automotive. There were plenty of stories in this year's edition to make it a very memorable one, ranging from the first diesel win to the first non-Porsche win in the smaller GT class. After being present for four decades, it could also very well have been the last we have seen of Henri Pescarolo at Le Mans. No worries for the French fans as Peugeot revealed the first details of their 2007 competitor two days before the race.
We sent Wouter Melissen to the endurance racing capitol of the world to soak up the atmosphere and of course capture the 24 hour race in its entirety. He returned with thousands of spectacular photographs and a head full of thoughts. Despite having missed out on many hours of sleep, he has picked his best shots for our exclusive 250-shot slideshow and penned down the most important events in a 2500 word report.

In a month dominated by the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it is time today to step and look at a stunningly beautiful example of yesteryear; the unique Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe Speciale. Inspired by the 'Gullwing', this one-off was created for famous Italian movie director Roberto Rosselini. We caught up with the silver Ferrari earlier this year and have compiled an 18-shot gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Back to the current day for some motoring news, which of course includes a Mercedes Benz novelty. Two actually; the extremely lightweight 400 hp SLK 55 AMG and the even wilder 582 bhp CLK 55 DTM Cabriolet. After the disappearance of the Rover K-Series engine, Lotus was short of an entry level Elise model. Not anymore with the launch of the Elise S, which combines a downtuned version of the Toyota engine with a five speed gearbox.
Jan Lammers' Racing for Holland made a last minute switch from Mugen to Judd power for this weekend's Le Mans, but they left us enough time to add the Dome S101-Hb in this configuration to the database. In reference to the World Cup, the car is painted like a big football and Dutch legend Johan Cruijf's number 14. Some forty years ago, American racing car manufacturer Chaparral scored their first win on our side of the Atlantic with the beautiful 2D; a very good reason for a closer look.

At 5 pm this coming Saturday fifty cars will start in what looks set to be another epic 24 Hours of Le Mans. The big story is of course the advent of a diesel engined Audi. There have been attempts with alternative fuels before, but this is the first time a non-petrol fueled machine is among the pre-race favourites. Audi's main rival will again be the French Pescarolo team, which now has two cars as reliable as they are fast. In the other three classes, the competition should be equally close. The teams have been at the track for almost two weeks now and were able to test on the full circuit last week to set the cars up and to enable the 'rookies' to complete the mandatory 10 laps to qualify for the race. We sent Wouter Melissen down to the very sunny Le Mans track to catch a first glimpse of this year's action. His findings and predictions can be found in our exclusive 24 Hours of Le Mans Previews, which includes class by class predictions, a fully illustrated entry list and a 150 shot slideshow. Wouter will go back to the legendary track again later this week to cover the race in its entirety. The full coverage should be ready a day or two after the race, illustrated by our usual high quality and high resolution images. Until then you can get suitably warmed up with our preview.
For live timing and the latest news we would like to refer to the official Le Mans website.

Audi returned to Le Mans in force this past Sunday with the new R10. Powered by a state-of-the-art V12 diesel engine, it is in contention to claim the first diesel win in the legendary endurance race. We will be on hand to capture the entire race and Wouter Melissen was already on site this past weekend to capture our first pictures of the very quick and very quiet Audi.
In the 1970s, the Cosworth V8 engine was the most commonly used racing engine however Ferrari was one of the few non-Cosworth teams that found success with their Mauro Forghieri designed flat-12 engine. With a low center of gravity and high horsepower figures, it racked up three driver's titles. One of the most successful of these Ferraris was the 312 T2, used in 1976 and 1977. Inspired by Ferrari's success, fellow Italian manufacturer Tecno designed a flat-12 racer of their own to power the ill-fated PA 123.
Taking the lead from Mercedes Benz, Porsche now seems to be releasing a new model every week. This time it's the most extreme version of the current generation 911 yet; the 997 GT3 RS. In contrast, Citroen starred at the recent Madrid Motorshow with the funky C-Buggy Concept.
Marcello Gandini was at his peak when he designed the revolutionary Lancia Stratos Zero Concept in 1970. It not only continued the popular wedge trend, but also formed the basis for the first purpose-built rally car.