The sensible part of anyone’s brain says this is a bad idea, from beginning to end. But then that part of the psyche rarely gets a look-in when it comes to buying sportscars and this olde world muscle car, the Cheetah, might just work.

This is a continuation car, not a replica, which would be a big deal, except that Cheetah built just 23 cars before the factory was destroyed by a fire in 1965. Race prep expert Bill Thomas had approached GM with a concept car that could take on Ford’s GT40 and even the Ferraris of the time, but it didn’t get far.

The Cheetahs that did make it into the world gained a fearful reputation for wayward handling, too. But even in ’65 they were cranking out 215mph speeds at Daytona, and this new version is a mildly safer version of that same car.

Without the fire history could have remembered another colorful character, but the lost momentum allowed GM to focus on its Corvette racing teams and the project slipped under without a fight. And now it’s back in almost exactly the same form.

The Cheetah has a spaceframe chassis, a 350 Chevy V8 with twin four-barrel carbs and a fibreglass body built to the same specs as the original. It also comes with a signed certificate of authenticity from Bill Thomas himself.

It looks like a blown-up go kart sat on fat, high-profile tyres. It’s a cartoon of a car that is basically a housing for that huge engine, two seats and a side-exit exhaust. In short it’s a hilarious weekend car, but at more than $100,000 these won’t be cheap thrills.

Still, it’s always heart-warming to see something different out there and with the back story, this car is in with half a chance of selling more cars second time around.

Just one moment made the $200,000 asking price seem like a snip, well that and the attention lavished upon me every time we came close to stopping. It was like spending your whole life sitting comfortably around the 6-6.5 mark, and suddenly waking up as a perfect 10. Whichever way you want to interpret that, it kind of works…

This LP560-4 may be a subtle revision of the Gallardo that was launched all the way back in 2004, but it still has the visual impact to stop traffic and if they ever found their way there it would blow Ferrari’s 430 off the catwalk. And the same goes for its sibling rival, the R8 V10. They might be more realistic competitors in the long-run, but for the pure theatrical experience you just can’t beat the Lamborghini.

This is the second model to emerge from the new Lamborghini that was taken over by Audi in 1997. Since then the near bankrupt Italian firm has gone to become a global superpower with the neat marriage of Italian flair and passion combined with German precision and build quality. This ‘baby’ Lamborghini embodies that ethos like no other.

The Gallardo is an orgy of geomtetric perfection, with razor sharp creases running along its length. This version comes with a sharper front end inspired by the million pound special edition Reventon, muscular, unashamedly masculine lines and a rear that somehow seems lower and wider than the outgoing Gallardo thanks to a redesign of the rear lights that now use LED clusters.

It was a revelation when it was launched: tighter, more compact and conservative than the overtly muscular and range-topping Murcielago yet all the better for it. Now, with a flash of front end fang, it looks truly ripped without losing the subtle appeal that has made it a sales sensation largely responsible for the renaissance of the brand.

That hasn’t stopped Lamborghini losing sales, even they are not immune to the global economic downturn. But just a decade ago this crisis would have finished the Italian marque forever, now they talk bullishly about increasing market share and taking the fight to their rivals in tough times with the complete Italian supercar.

Inside, it’s even better. The Kinder Egg build quality of Italian supercars used to get written off as character, charming quirks that came with the package. Today’s buyer is much less forgiving and Audi has raised its game with Audi’s help to create a comfortable, well-equipped interior that could handle every day use for years to come. The chromed switchgear is a little much, perhaps, but then this is a Lamborghini and we have to forgive the Italians a little posturing. It is, after all, what they do best.

And it’s even sexier with the roof stowed at the touch of a button beneath that vented, aggressive rear deck. Then the whole World can watch in wonder at the laughing maniac behind the wheel of arguably the finest car in its class, just for a second at least.

Because the best thing about the foldaway soft top is that it puts that dirty, guttural V10 engine even closer to your ear, encouraging wanton acts of pure speed that in this fair nation would surely mean a court appearance and some time on the bus sooner rather than later.

That 5.2-litre V10 comes with 552bhp, or 560PS to make sense of the name, and takes just four seconds to blast through the 60mph mark. And with a top speed of 201mph, it’s safe to say the Gallardo is fast enough. But then it’s the character of the car that marks it apart, there are plenty of others that are just as fast yet the Lamborghini makes you do it each and every time.

All the driver can do is drink in the noise and grab the rather cheap looking paddle-shift e-Gear system that is still a little jerky for some tastes yet walks an admirable line between usability and outright speed. There are smoother alternatives, such as Porsches double clutch system, but Lamborghini’s ever affable Research and Development Director Maurizio Reggiani insists that the feel of a real gearchange is essential to the driving experience and he does have a point. Every moment with the Gallardo is a visceral joy, especially the way it takes bends.

Throw the Gallardo into a bend late and hard and it still sticks like week-old pasta to the apex of the bend thanks to a complex four-wheel drive system that can feed 70 percent of the power to the front wheels if the back end steps out of line and traction control to back that up. That will save many an expensive incident as the few bankers left that can afford to splash out run out of skills half way through a bend.

Of course the cabriolet shouldn’t be as good as the hard-top in corners, because cutting off the roof inevitably removes some of the structural stiffness. But then Lamborghini worked long and hard to stiffen the chassis without adding excess weight and it’s now as close to the hard-top as makes no difference. Plus the added thrills of wind in the hair motoring and the louder noise more than compensate for the fractions lost at the apex.

Carbon ceramic brakes haul the car down from preposterous speeds and after some criticism in the earlier cars Lamborghini has softened the response to create a near-perfect system that works more effectively than a brick wall on a hard charge but is also soft and sympathetic around town.

Because although the LP560-4 Spyder would monster most race tracks, it isn’t that kind of car. This is possibly the finest boulevard cruiser in the whole world, a stylish alternative to the Ferraris that have become a little bit naff thanks to their oversupply and a car that will give a magic moment each and every time you turn the key.

Price: $200,000
Engine: 5.2-litre
Power: 552bhp
Torque: 398lb/ft
0-60mph: 4s
Top speed: 201mph

500 Fathoms. More high-performance and high-tech than ever, the brand’s latest diver’s watch displays an uncompromisingly sporting design. Water-resistant to 1000 metres, it is equipped with a helium decompression valve that is vital when diving in a closed environment. The ultra-virile 500 Fathoms is fitted with a 48 mm-diameter titanium case – an unusual size for Blancpain.

Presented as the ultimate sports watch, the 500 Fathoms is making a striking entrance into the collection of Blancpain diver’s watches. Endowed with a new face, a new size and new performances, the 500 Fathoms is water-resistant to 1000 metres. It features a brushed titanium case measuring 48 mm in diameter, equipped with a crown guard.

Placed inside the case at 10 o’clock, an automatic decompression valve guarantees the security and the reliability of the watch, without requiring any handling on the part of the wearer.

To enhance readability, Blancpain has designed large phosphorescent Arabic numerals that are hollowed into the sunray-brushed metal appliques. The luminescent coating on the hour-markers, bezel markings and hands, along with the red tip of the sweep seconds hand, ensure optimal readability in all circumstances. The luminescent base of the black dial reveals its fluorescence only in the dark, while the date appears in white against a black background at 4 o’clock.

The unidirectional ratcheted bezel facilitates handling and avoids any involuntary extension of the dive time. Crafted in titanium and sapphire crystal, it features a gentle cambered relief that reduces the risk of impacts.

The 500 Fathoms is powered by the self-winding Calibre 1315, specifi cally designed to equip sports watches. It incorporates a glucydur balance with micrometric regulating screws, which helps to prevent any jarring from disturbing the smooth running of the watch. Three series- coupled barrels guarantee constant energy and a five-day power reserve. The calendar mechanism enables the user to make fast date adjustments in either direction even at midnight, without any risk of damaging the mechanism.

Another noteworthy feature of the 500 Fathoms is its sapphire crystal allowing one to admire its self-winding movement, as well as its engraved oscillating weight shaped like a boat propeller, without compromising either water resistance or safety.

With 15 Gallardos lining up for battle in the hands of gentleman racers this series is a wonder to behold and the sound of that many 560bhp Italian supercars storming across the line on the rolling start, well you have to see it to believe it.

The series for gentlemen drivers supports the FIA GTs and while it’s billed as a lifestyle race series, some of the competitors have enlisted serious help. Racing greats Peter Kox and Uwe Alzen regularly line up and Lamborghini’s chief tester Giorgio Sanna drives for the works team.

It’s proper racing, and the cars look amazing heading down towards the rolling start. Of course you have to be super rich to take part, as motor racing at any level isn’t cheap and stacking a race-prepped Gallardo would hurt in more ways than one. But that’s all part of the attraction and the fascination of watching them pile in to turn one.

Lamborghini Muenchen’s videos are long and involved tales, rather than a simple bit of race action, but then it is beautifully done and I think you’ll like all 7m47s of it.

Now the video was released in August, and the M5 stops running in November and you;ll have to wait for April to see what life is like from the passenger seat of a 500bhp super saloon. It costs €195 a lap and it’s all about the entertainment, too, so the drivers that know the old ‘Ring like we never could are quite happy to smoke the tyres and drift round half the course.

As a rule of thumb the drivers are established Ringmeisters, including Sabine Schmitz, and they will blow your mind with the speeds they carryout on a 12-mile sliver of tarmac that is spectacular and dangerous as it gets.

I kind of like this refugee from the 1980s, though. It’s hard to believe this video was released this century, it feels like a corporate video from decades ago, or those educational foreign language shows that fire up at 1:30am. But then it has Sabine, and it has a certain charm.

Now that looks like a major insurance claim in the making.

Porsche has released some stunning footage of the GT3 RS doing what it does best, hammering round a track. There is no fancy editing, no slick visual effects and, for once, no hold tone music.

It’s just the car, the circuit and some tortured tyres.

It looks like the results of a beautiful union of a Ferrari Enzo and Lamborghini Reventon and the concept is pure theatre from every angle. And underneath the skin they are aiming at 536bhp and 738lb/ft of torque that will power all four wheels through electric motors.

Now it all seems great, the only issue is the weight. e-Wolf claims the overall weight will be around 2000lb, which seems a little optimistic. Even the Tesla Roadster weighs almost two tons thanks to the massive battery packs, but if they can do it then this will be a very cool car indeed – especially with all that torque available right from 1 rev…

The E-2 will hit 155mph, according to the manufacturer, can recharge 80 per cent of the batteries in 30 minutes and will have a range of 185 miles when it goes on sale in 2011.

Bring it on!

Enjoy…



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Fisker’s Karma hits the track on this video and it looks like it could be going places very soon now it has secured a government loan and is pressing ahead with production.

The exterior looks stunning, like the very finest sports coupes, and with zero emissions and decent performance, this could be the new benchmark in electric motoring before too long.

Audi and Mercedes should soon overtake it, that’s the natural order of things once the big guys get involved. But Fisker took a brave gamble with this car and we think it might just pay off handsomely for him.