We have managed to squeeze one more Ferrari Friday in by taking a closer look at two great Ferraris we saw in 2023. One of the highlights of the Goodwood Revival was the one-make Lavant Cup reserved exclusively to Ferraris. The race was won by this 250 LM, which was driven with great verve by Rob Hall for its American owner. In period, the car was campaigned with great success by Edoardo Lualdi in local Italian races and hill-climbs. Part of the same collection since 2005, chassis 6217 is one of very few real 250 LMs that is still raced in anger today.
The last V12-engined Ferrari to win at Le Mans is this 550 GTS Maranello, which scored a GTS class win back in 2003. It was the sixth of ten examples produced by Prodrive for Care Racing Development and raced throughout the 2003 season by the works team. It was then retained by original owner Frédéric Dor until this year when CRD 06 joined a fabulous collection of historic competition cars. Under the new ownership, it was demonstrated at the Dix Mille Tours.

One of the absolute highlights of this year was the opening of the Nationales Automuseum in Germany. It is built around the private collection meticulously curated by Friedhelm Loh over the last decades. He has a broad taste and the collection consists of Ferrari Grand Prix cars, recent LMP racers, iconic touring cars, high-performance supercars but also great luxury cars of the 1920s and 1930s. After receiving universal acclaim, the museum was recently awarded the FIA Founding Members’ Club Heritage Cup of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). We visited the Nationales Automuseum earlier this year when the museum staged a special display celebrating the Le Mans centenary. Our detailed report is illustrated by a 90-shot gallery.
McLaren have revised the line-up by introducing the GTS, which supersedes the GT introduced back in 2019. Mooted as the most user friendly McLaren, it has sufficient storage space for a brief trip but also boasts a 626 bhp version of the familiar twin-turbo V8. In addition to the hike in power, the GTS also offers a variety of detail changes. Available to order now, deliveries will start in 2024.
We would like to use this opportunity to wish you Happy Holidays and a great New Year with many great drives and exciting events.

Among the many celebrations this year were McLaren's 60th and Lotus' 75th anniversaries. Today we take closer look at three great competition cars from these British manufacturers. The newest is this McLaren MP4/1B Cosworth, which was raced by John Watson during the 1982 Formula 1 World Championship. The British driver scored a victory at Caesar's Palace in this car and it later also raced in interim specification with the TAG Porsche V6 engine. Now in private hands, MP4/1B - 5 is regularly raced in the Masters Formula 1 Championship.
Built in 1969, this McLaren M7C Cosworth was still raced by Bruce McLaren himself. The one-off was actually derived from the M10A Formula 5000 and featured a full monocoque chassis. M7C/1 is today owned again by McLaren is equipped with the striking high wings that were in vogue briefly during the 1969 season.
One of the great Lotus sports racers is the Type 15 and this example is the very last built. It was sold to the United States and raced with considerable success. During its period racing career, 628/3 was also campaigned with a small-block Buick V8 engine. Now restored to its original configuration, it is regularly raced by its Danish owner.

One of the major themes at events this year was Porsche's 75th anniversary. This inspired owners to bring out some truly spectacular machines and today we will conclude our celebrations by looking at three of these great Porsches. The absolute star of the Group C race during the Le Mans Classic was this 962C. A works car, it was raced successfully by Hans-Joachim Stuck and Derek Bell with the outright victory at Le Mans in 1986 as its crowning achievement. Owned by the same family since 1993, 962-003 was part of the Le Mans centenary celebrations and also raced during the Le Mans Classic weekend.
Also out that weekend was this 908 L. Built ahead of the 1969 season, it was qualified on pole position for the Daytona 24 Hours by Brian Redman and Vic Elford. Sadly, engine issues ended the charge early. It was later converted to Spyder configuration and raced well into the 1970s. Chassis 908-023 was raced during the Le Mans Classic and also demonstrated by Brian Redman in the centenary parade. A fortnight later, it was also out during the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Another very interesting Porsche driven up the hill this year was the very 356 SL Coupe that scored the German manufacturer's first class win at Le Mans back in 1951. Subsequently sold to the United States, it had been hiding as a Spyder for many years until the current custodian discovered its original roots. The very rare 356 SL Coupe was shown at Pebble Beach in 2016 following a complete restoration and made it across the pond for the Festival of Speed this year.

The Endurance Racing Legends race was one of the absolute highlights of this year's Le Mans Classic. No doubt attracted by the Le Mans Centenary celebrations, some truly fantastic recent prototypes and GT cars lined up for the two heats. Among them was the only privately owned Toyota GT-One. This particular chassis had qualified on pole position at Le Mans in 1999 and is today part of a formidable collection of a gentleman racer. He was behind the wheel himself and finished second in the feature race and won the sprint race on Sunday. From the same stable comes this Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution. It was raced by the factory team at Le Mans in 1997 and was subsequently sold to the United States where it was campaigned by Champion Motors. One of three works cars built in 1997, it was restored to its original guise for the current custodian. A third GT1 car that starred at Le Mans and later also at the Festival of Speed was this Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello. It has a somewhat unusual history as it was never campaigned by the Prodrive team but instead was sold direct to a Japanese customer. CRD 07 was raced with limited success in the Japanese GT Championship and has more recently been restored to full running order by Venture Engineering.
This morning the range topping Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance has broken cover. Powered by a hybrid drivetrain consisting of a twin-turbo V8 and a single electric motor, it boasts a combined 804 bhp and a maximum torque of 1,420 Nm.

This weekend, RM Sotheby's will stage the highly exclusive New York Auction to round out the year. Among the headliners are a pair of 1950s coach-built coupes. We were particularly taken by the Fiat 8V Ghia Supersonic consigned. Any Supersonic is special but this car has not been seen in public since the early 1960s. It has had only four owners from new and was recently meticulously restored. A welcome guest at all major events, chassis 106*000053 has a $2.1 - $ 2.5 million estimate. Of a similar vintage is this one-off Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Coupe, which has also benefited from a recent restoration. It has already won first in class at Pebble Beach and comes with an invitation to Villa d'Este. Of a more modern vintage are two great examples of the Jaguar XJ220 and McLaren P1 that will cross the block on Friday.
In New Zealand, Rodin Cars have started testing the very wild FZero. This track-day only is powered by a twin-turbocharged V10 engine, which produces over 1,000 bhp. Last we heard, production of this single-seater is limited to just 27 examples. From Germany hails this Mercedes-AMG CLE 53; the latest coupe from the German manufacturer's high-performance department. It is powered by a 442 bhp straight-six engine that powers all four wheels. Proud of the company's history, Morgan looks ahead to the future with this battery electric XP-1. As the name suggests, it is an experimental vehicle that combines the lightweight aluminium chassis of the Super 3 with a bespoke electric drivetrain, which is the first developed in-house.

A staple of the Peter Auto weekends is the Historic Group C Championship. Having been run for over two decades, it is amazing that every year 'new' cars return to track that have not been seen for many years. One of the stars of the 2023 season was without a doubt the Repsol liveried Brun C91 Judd. Developed by the Swiss Brun Motorsport team in 1991 to replace the ageing and nearly obsolete 962Cs, it was originally due to have been powered by a V12 engine. Using a Judd V8 instead the unique C91 proved woefully unreliable in period. The bugs have been ironed out as Alex Müller took two outright wins during the Dix Mille Tours with the striking Brun.
Like Brun Motorsport, Team Schuppan developed a bespoke carbon-fibre composite chassis for their 962Cs. These were later also used for the legendary Schuppan road cars. One of just two of Schuppan race car surviving is this 962 TS, which competed at the Le Mans Classic and Dix Mille Tours this year. Chassis 03C was the third car built and featured a custom body in period. As this aero-package did not work, the car was never actually raced in this configuration. It is now fitted with a more conventional 'sprint' body.
Also never actually used when it was new, is this factory-built 962C. It was acquired by the Nova Engineering team ahead of the 1991 season. As the Japanese team also had a pair of newer and faster Nissan R91CPs available, it served as a spare car that year. Following a lengthy spell in American and then Dutch hands, 962-171 is now in the ownership of a Belgian historic racer.