For almost two decades, Porsche was content with racing for class victory with production based racers. At times they challenged intrinsically faster machinery for overall wins, but that was not the main objective. Things changed in the second half of the 1960s when the focus of the racing program shifted towards achieving the most coveted trophy in sports car racing; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first of these new generation Porsches was the 908 with its three litre eight cylinder engine. Especially in its second guise, it was successful at a variety of events and came achingly close to that Le Mans win in 1969. In the mean time Porsche had developed the 917, which was specifically suited to Le Mans and achieved victory in the French classic the following year. Alongside that 12-cylinder engined racer, Porsche also campaigned the 908/3, particularly at the tight and twisty tracks. As its name suggests, it was the third version of the 908, but other than the engine, very few bits had been carried over from its predecessor. By moving the engine to the absolute centre and shaving as much weight off the car, Porsche had created one of the finest handling racing cars of its era, especially compared to the ill-mannered 917. Sadly the 908/3's Nurburgring and Targa Florio winning performance was completely overshadowed by the Le Mans win of its bigger brother. The cars were raced throughout the 1970s and some owners even fitted turbo-charged engines, inspiring Porsche to build the very similar 936 (a three-time Le Mans winner).
As will become immediately obvious when exploring the 908/3 feature, we have added many new specifications to the table. Some may be familiar to our premium subscribers, but others like 'Major race wins' and 'engine weight' are completely new. For our loyal subscribers we have also uploaded 12 new wallpapers. In the next few weeks many more will be added from all the events we have visited in the past two months.

During the first two years of the Ford 'GT40' project (1964 and 1965) a variety of configurations of the sports racer were constructed. Of the twelve prototypes, the four or five GT Roadsters were among the most unusual and least known. They were predominantly built to figure out why Ferrari persisted on building both open and closed versions of their Le Mans racers. In the end the weight saved by chopping the roof off did not make up for the lost rigidity and none of the production cars used this configuration. Several of the Roadsters were rebodied with the more familiar coupe body, but the featured machine retained its open Targa Florio configuration. At Pebble last month this exceptional 166 MM Touring Berlinetta grabbed a lot of attention. This was in no small part due to the excellent finish of the Paul Russell restoration, which some considered to be a little over the top. There was a little bit more to the beautiful Ferrari; it was the 1950 Mille Miglia winner, in the hands of Giannino Marzotto. The rarest of the Bugatti Type 35 derivatives is the 1.5 litre engined Type 39. A few weeks ago we took a look at the naturally aspirated version and today it's time to examine the supercharged version; the Type 39A.
One of the new directions for the industry is to produce smaller and more frugal machines, which have become more popular with the rise in fuel prices. Both Volkswagen and Toyota responded to this trend at Frankfurt with the introduction of two super-mini concept cars; the up! and iQ respectively. Not present at the German show was Wiesmann. They instead chose to celebrate the opening of a new Frankfurt dealership by introducing the V10 engined GT MF5.

Silverstone, the self proclaimed 'Home of British Motor Sport' was the world's endurance racing capital for two weekends in a row. First up was the Britcar 24 Hours race, followed by the 1000 km race for the Le Mans Series. It was the fifth race of the championship and arguably the most exciting and certainly the best attended of this year. The Classic Endurance Racing one-hour race on Saturday was a sign of things to come with close racing in three of the four classes. That, combined with the sight and sound of BMW M1s, a Ford GT40 and a Mirage, makes the CER races a real treat. Sunday was reserved for the modern Le Mans racers, headed of course by one of the Peugeots. Behind the winning oil burner, there was some spectacular racing with podium positions up in the air well into the final 100 km. Particularly sparkling was the debut of the Zytek 07S/2 in the hands of Team LNT; it was the quickest petrol car for most of the weekend and eventually finished second in class after an early alternator failure.
Having missed the Spa Francorchamps round last month because of conflicting schedules, we returned to the Le Mans Series for the Silverstone 1000 km. The combined work of Pieter and Wouter Melissen has been compiled in a full report and captured in an action-packed 170-shot slideshow.

Continuing our Frankfurt coverage, we take a closer look today at some of the show's highlights. With the help of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, the Ferrari 430 Scuderia was one of the IAA's biggest stars. Lighter and more powerful than the regular F430 Coupe, it promises to be one of the quickest machines a lot of money can buy. Speaking of a lot of money, and then some; Lamborghini unveiled this limited edition Reventon. Built in very limited numbers, it could have been yours for a cool �1 million, but the 650 bhp two-seater was sold out before it was even launched. Brabus continued the V12-engined projectile theme with the C-Class based Bullit. The German Mercedes Benz tuning experts managed to boost the power of the V12 engine to 720 bhp and to considerably more torque than the Maybach-sourced gearbox can handle. A top speed of over 360 km/h is claimed for the compact four-seater.
Quite in contrast with the previously mentioned high performers were the environmentally friendly concept cars shown in Frankfurt. One of the most advanced of these was the Mercedes Benz F700, combining an advanced user interface with a high-tech drivetrain. It is powered by the world's first diesotto engine, which combines the diesel and otto combustion principles thanks to a variable compression ratio. At the Opel stand, the Flextreme Concept took centre stage. Like the Volt launched in January, the Flextreme uses its petrol engine only to generate electricity for the motors. On batteries only, it has a range of 50 km.

All eyes in the automotive industry are on Frankfurt, where tomorrow the Internationale Automobil Austellung (IAA) will be officially open to the public. The past two days have been used to show the collected media and industry analysts the latest production and concept cars and also a look into an environmentally friendlier future. Dozens of world debuts range from the low-emission concept cars to the outrageous �1 million Lamborghini Reventon. As a reflection of our times the manufacturers are attempting to both cut fuel consumption and emissions, but still break performance barriers. The most important production car launched in Frankfurt was no doubt the Jaguar XF. Its success could be vital for the ailing company's future. Other highlights included the Mercedes Benz F700 Concept, the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and the Mini Clubman.
Our photographers explored the vast grounds of the Frankfurt Messe and have returned with a hard drive full of shots and a head full of thoughts. In the last few hours, a selection has been made and found its way into this exclusive 230-shot slideshow and a brief report.
As usual, all of the major Frankfurt releases will be further analysed in closer detail in future updates.

Tomorrow the Messe in Frankfurt will welcome media and industry representatives for the first of two preview days for the 'Internationale Automobil Ausstellung' or IAA. There the lucky few will be able to experience all the new releases in the metal, before the show's official opening on Thursday. Before heading down to Frankfurt, we would like to bring a final preview, complete with a list of most of the known debuts.
Performance is still the key word for the German manufacturers and at the IAA all of them will take the wraps off some massively powerful machines. All of them are topped by Audi, who have turned the A6 Avant in the somewhat ludicrous RS6, which is powered by a twin-turbocharged V10 good for 580 bhp. It makes the 457 bhp Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Estate look almost sensible. Aston Martin will showcase two limited edition models, celebrating the racing success; the DB9 LM and the V8 Vantage N400.
The increasing focus on the environment in the industry is reflected by a series of low emission and/or low mileage concept cars. The most interesting of these is the Volvo ReCharge Concept. Like the GM Volt released at Detroit, it uses the petrol engine as a generator for the electric motors. This allows the engine to be run in its most efficient rev-range at all times. Citro�n's C-Cactus Concept packs a closer to production powertrain, which combines hybrid technology with the highly frugal HDi diesel engines.

In the last month, literally thousands of fantastic cars passed through our view-finders and today we take a closer look at two of these. Built in the 1950s, both feature massive quad-cam V12 engines. Best known of these is the Ferrari 412 S, which is the single most powerful front-engined Ferrari sports racer ever built. The engine in particular has had a colourful career and before being used in this chassis it was fitted in De Portago's ill-fated 1957 Mille Miglia racer and the 412 MI that was used in the 1958 Race of Two Worlds. In its final specification the four litre engine produced a staggering 440 bhp. Last year it was sold for over $5 million, but fortunately its new owner is an avid racer and entered the Ferrari in the Monterey Historics this year. There we captured every detail of this stunningly beautiful machine.
In his quest to win Le Mans, Aston Martin Lagonda owner David Brown commissioned the construction of a brand new racing car for the 1954 season. Since the proposed engine was a large displacement V12, he decided to revive the Lagonda name and planned a production run of luxurious road cars powered by the new engine. These never materialized, but two Lagonda DP115s were constructed, powered by an incredibly complex twin-plug, twin-cam V12 engine. Sadly there was not enough time and money to develop the Lagondas and they remained but a footnote in Aston's racing history. At Goodwood earlier this week the featured DP115 looked very impressive and won its race.

Hot on the heels of the hectic Pebble week comes the annual finale of the historic racing season; the Goodwood Revival. Held on the meticulously restored Goodwood Motor Circuit, the 'Revival' boasts a completely unique atmosphere. The 1950s/60s look is completed by the participants, spectators and staff, many of whom are dressed up in period attire. It has proven to be a successful formula as the event each year attracts the finest historic racing cars and capacity crowds. Complementing the familiar races were a series of celebrations, including the career of Roy Salvadori and the Cosworth DFV engine. Both were celebrated by a parade of related racing cars.
An annual highlight is the one-hour Tourist Trophy race, which saw old rivals like the Ferrari 250 GTO, Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and Jaguar E-Type Lightweight face off again. At the end of the weekend, the crowd was treated to an absolute spectacle by two of historic racing's most prolific racers; Barrie Williams and Frank Sytner, who provided a fitting finale to another fantastic Revival.
After getting a first taste of the unique event last year, Wouter Melissen returned to the Goodwood Revival this year for more. He was joined by ace-photographer Gavin Ireland and together they have created an absolutely mouth-watering 210-shot slideshow to illustrate the report.