A feature in the Daily Telegraph where writer Mark Hales climbs behind the wheel of the Vanwall GPR V12, a brand new sports car that recreates a 1950s legend at http://connected.telegraph.co.uk

Classic style: the new Vanwall is road-legal

Every so often, a story comes along that you simply couldn't make up. Like the one about the new, fully road-legal, single-seat car that looks very much like a famous 1950s grand prix winner. More than that, it sports a badge made immortal by the marque that created it, and wears it with full approval from the trustees.

And it's a world-championship title-winning badge, no less, because the car you see here is officially a Vanwall and it looks like the one Stirling Moss drove in 1958. A real Formula One car for the road? Couldn't happen, could it?

Well, maybe not quite, but nearly… The story begins at a small farm industrial unit nestling among the trees on the outskirts of Peterborough, where you will find one Arthur Wolstenholme, late of the Ronart company.

Ronarts were simple, muscular sports cars built around a tube-frame chassis and Jaguar running gear, with rounded glass-fibre bodies and wheels covered by cycle wings in a style typical of 1950s specials. They made no pretence to sophistication, always had more power than grip and were generally hot and noisy.

They were fun to drive, though, and it was a good niche; since mere survival in the low-volume car business depends on a product that is nicely made and well sorted, Ronarts were clearly both, because Wolstenholme sold more than 100 between 1988 and 2003.

Then came the desire to move up-market, which led to the ill-fated Lightning GT. Although handsome, it moved away from the principles of simplicity and affordability, lost its investors at a critical point and foundered. Some 15 buyers had their deposits returned but Ronart had to cease trading.

Undeterred and clearly still driven, as such people need to be, Wolstenholme went back to the 1950s for his next inspiration, a single-seater in the style of that decade's grand prix cars, the last hurrah of the front-engined breed.

It wouldn't be that different mechanically from the Ronarts that he knew well how to build, but might wear a body akin to the Dino Ferrari or Maserati 250F Formula One cars - a shape that to my generation of schoolboys was what a real racing car looked like. As far as Wolstenholme knew, nobody had done it before and even if the niche would be more rarefied than usual, at least his business might rise from the ashes.

But he had to find a name. Ronart was no longer free (it hardly trips off the tongue anyway) and all the real grand prix marques that have won the constructor's title since the start of the modern era in 1950 were in the hands of people unlikely to make them available. You can't imagine McLaren or Williams allowing their names to appear on a low-volume car made in Peterborough. But after a little research, there emerged one possibility.

Back in the days when individuals drove companies, race enthusiast Tony Vandervell, boss of the bearing company that bore his name, had finally despaired of success with BRM's V16, or of beating "those bloody red cars" with customer Ferraris painted a different colour, and had commissioned his own grand prix contender. Thus, via expedience and frustration, was Vanwall born - the "Van" coming from Vandervell and "wall" from the Thinwall crankshaft bearings that his company had pioneered and had fast become an industry standard.

The Vanwall's chassis was designed by a hungry young Colin Chapman, who had yet to enter the grand prix arena with his own Lotus outfit...

Glimpsed in the snow like a mythical creature, this picture confirms the elusive Bugatti Veyron supercar exists and is in its final stages of testing. Billed as the fastest, most powerful and most expensive (£800,000) car in the world, doubts had begun to grow about whether it would ever go into production.

Now, after six years, numerous setbacks and at least one 200mph crash, the 8 litre 16 cylinder Veyron is finally ready.

During winter testing in the Arctic Circle the streamlined form of the Veyron, though heavily disguised, was unmistakable in this picture by Hans Lehmann, the top spy photographer. The manufacturer claims it has already taken 12 months’ orders. “The car is done,” said Georges Keller of Bugatti. “We’re just going through the last details. It will be launched in October. The wait will be worth it.”

With its 1,001bhp engine, it makes the Ferrari Enzo’s 660bhp motor — the current world record holder — look puny. The Veyron’s estimated 0 to 62mph time is 2.9sec with a top speed of 252mph. That would make it 12mph faster than the McLaren F1, hitherto the world’s fastest road-going car.

The first problem with the Veyron was the engine’s cooling system. Then aerodynamic instability was the suspected cause of a 200mph accident during testing. The car was delayed further because Bernd Pischetsrieder, boss of VW, which owns Bugatti, was unhappy with the steering. Finally, on its first public outing, Bugatti’s test driver lost control, avoiding another collision by inches. If all now runs smoothly Bugatti plans to make 50 cars a year at a new factory near the company’s base at Molsheim in the Alsace region of France.

A Sunday Times article by Ray Hutton

This is the first image of Bentley’s fastest-ever luxury saloon, which is set to be unveiled this week. The company has kept its appearance secret, even to the extent of dressing it up as a Mercedes during road trials, but the computer rendering above strips it of its disguise.

Bentley has also played down the fact that the Flying Spur, which has an expected price tag of at least £112,000, may be made in Germany. For the first time the final assembly of one of Britain’s most famous marques — sold to Volkswagen in 1998 — could be transferred to the German car maker’s underused factory in Dresden.

The company admits it has already drawn up plans to finish the new Bentleys — albeit using parts shipped from Cheshire — in its Gläsern Manufaktur (glass factory) if demand for the vehicle is as high as industry experts predict. It can’t make cars fast enough at the former Rolls-Royce works in Crewe and already has a nine-month backlog of orders for its Continental GT.

"The reason we build our cars at Crewe is that we have continuity and skills we can’t have anywhere else,” said a spokesman. “(But) should volume get to the point where we can’t manufacture completely (in Britain), there would be some final assembly at Dresden.”

The new Bentley’s name, Flying Spur, is salvaged from the company’s past, when Bentleys were the choice of British blue-bloods and Hollywood actors.

The company is hoping the name will help re-establish the brand among the well-to-do. The success of Bentley’s two-door Continental GT among footballers and pop stars has boosted its bottom line — last week it announced a return to profit after losses of £251m in 2003 — but eroded its exclusivity. Ryan Giggs, Kieron Dyer, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville all drive Continental GTs.

“Britishness is one of the key factors in Bentley’s global appeal,” said Mike Steventon, head of automotive at the business services firm KPMG. “Losing that connection would damage the brand. VW paid an awful lot for the Bentley brand, so they shouldn’t want to devalue it.”

Overall, the new saloon is 20in longer than the Continental GT, with a more conventional side profile, framed windows and a straight contour-line continuing from the front wheel aft to the boot. It retains the same sporting character as the coupé and keeps the distinctive Bentley mesh grille.

Technical and marketing data seen by The Sunday Times reveal the Flying Spur will have the same 552bhp six-litre engine as the GT and roughly the same £112,750 price tag as the two-door coupé. It will hit 190mph and go from 0-60mph in 5sec.

There will be 17 exterior colours and 27 shades of leather to give the cabin that traditional Pall Mall club feel, and the air-conditioning can maintain different temperatures in four zones.

Like the Continental GT, the Flying Spur has four-wheel drive with a six-speed transmission. The dashboard and controls are also similar.

Last year the company exceeded all initial expectations to sell 5,500 of its GT coupés worldwide.

The company’s Crewe factory has a capacity of 9,000 vehicles per year, so if demand for the Flying Spur matches expectations the company will be forced to export production.

Already the bodyshells for the Continental GT and Flying Spur come from Germany, as do the mechanical units, which are shared with the Volkswagen Phaeton model. The twin-turbo engines are assembled at Crewe, however, and that fact has allowed the company to claim the car is British-built. Moving assembly to Germany would arguably undermine the company’s right to call Bentleys British.

Nevertheless, the launch of the Flying Spur will send a shudder through Rolls-Royce, now owned by BMW, which has struggled in the crowded luxury-car market.

BMW has unveiled what it says will be the quickest-accelerating road car it has built.

The M6 uses the two-door bodyshell of the latest 6-series and the mighty 500bhp 5 litre V10 engine of the new M5 saloon. The pairing is entirely logical, but BMW has not offered a high-performance coupé in this class since the M635 CSi of the 1980s.

The significant thing about the new M6 is that it is lighter and faster than the saloon equivalent, the M5. This new coupé can do 0-62mph in 4.6sec, beating the latest, similarly-priced, Porsche 911 Carrera S. In theory it can achieve 200mph but cars will be delivered with a top-speed limiter set at 155mph.

A seven-speed SMG (sequential manual gearbox) has the option of steering-column paddles with which to change gear and there is a power button by the gearlever which allows the driver to choose maximum engine output of 400 or 507bhp.

To save weight the M6 has adopted techniques used in the M3 CSL — lightweight body panels in aluminium and plastics and a carbon fibre roof. Consequently the M6 weighs 3,770lb — 100lb less than the M5.

Apart from Porsche, this BMW coupé is set to compete with the AMG version of the Mercedes CLS, which produces 476bhp and is half saloon and half coupé, with four doors and a swooping roofline.

Resplendent in works green and yellow, Aston Martin's DBR9, broke cover on Wednesday and yesterday did its first test at Snetterton, with chief test driver Darren Turner at the wheel. The new car's race debut will be at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Florida, next March, followed by the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

Aston Martin and its race partner Prodrive plan to build a total of 32 DBR9s, with 12 being retained as "works" cars and 20 being sold off (at a price of £475,000 each) to private teams and collectors. "We've got a list of potential drivers as long as your arm," said public affairs director Tim Watson, "and we'll sort the final line up by the end of this month."

In spite of Aston Martin's endurance racing history (it won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Sports Car Championship in 1959), the company is stressing that 2005 will be a proving year. "We're the new kids on the block," cautioned Watson, "so before people get the face paints out and invade the pits, we need to prove ourselves. This will be a slow-burn start, but we've committed to between three to five years."

The DBR9 is loosely based on the DB9 sports coupé road car, sharing its bonded-aluminium body architecture, with hand-made carbon-fibre exterior panels. The race engine uses the same V12 aluminium cylinder block and heads as the DB9, but is modified to produce about 600bhp.

A six-speed, sequential-change transaxle is used and the double wishbone suspension is uprated, with revised geometry. Carbon-fibre racing brakes are fitted all round.

Last week we brought news that the flying car was coming a step closer, but now comes even stranger news — of a flying motorcycle.

The Dutch firm Spark Design claims the vehicle — which looks like a cross between a helicopter and a full-fairing bike — will be able to take off and land vertically and reach 125mph both on land and in the air.

They say that provided sufficient investment continues to be made, it could be ready for test flights in as little as a year, and that the machine will be made in Canada mainly for the US market.

Power is likely to come from Mazda’s Renesis rotary engine, the unit currently used in the RX-8 sports car, which produces a generous amount of power for its size.

The rotor and propeller are folded until the machine needs to fly. Once airborne the rear-mounted propeller pushes the craft along and the unpowered main rotor spins to give the craft lift. It is designed to fly under the 4,000ft threshold used by commercial aircraft.

Spark is the opposite of a specialist company. It has worked on products as disparate as the Carver (a three-wheeled enclosed motorbike that leans over in corners), parts for coffee-making machines and bathroom-door handles for invalids.

Interview by Andrew Frankel of The Sunday Times with Nick Mason - Drummer Pink Floyd

When I was 14 I had the best job in the world. While my mates eked out their summer stacking shelves, filing papers or picking fruit, I worked for a rock star. Better still, this rock star was mad about cars, so mad in fact that he owned a garage whose only purpose was to look after pre-war Aston Martins. That’s where I worked, sweeping the floor, painting engine blocks and making tea for Nick Mason, the drummer with Pink Floyd.

It’s strange to think that the rock star is now 60, stranger still to meet him again and rediscover that this rock legend is as modest as ever. Yet he is a founder member of a band that can count Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and around 200m album sales among its many claims to fame.

Mason’s first love was not music, but cars. “The cars came first,” he remembers. “My dad used to race a vintage Bentley and from my earliest memory, cars and racing were part of my life. I went to watch him at Silverstone in the early 1950s and I’ve still got the car he was in.”

Not that it’s here. Mason’s car collection is so big that it has to be kept in hangars, and even then there isn’t enough space in one place for them all. “I have about 40 cars of which...

Click for more of Me and my motors: Nick Mason

 2004 promises to be a significant year for one of the most celebrated British marques of all. Aston Martin has had more brushes with bankruptcy than James Bond has had shaken vodka Martinis, but the company is steeling itself for a veritable product avalanche. In six weeks’ time, it launches its hot new DB9 model, the replacement for Aston’s most successful car, the DB7. A gorgeous convertible Volante will follow six months later.

Click here for the full report Aston Martin DB9