Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Gordon Murray’s Newest Toy: The S1 LM – Because 690bhp and Five Friends Is All You Really Need

Gordon Murray Automotive has decided that building one of the finest road cars in history—the T.50—wasn’t quite enough. No, now they’ve launched themselves into the ultra-low-volume madness that seems to be sweeping the exotic car world. Think “millionaire car clubs” meets “gentleman racers with country estates the size of Belgium.”

Their new Special Vehicles division has cooked up its first treat: the S1 LM, revealed at Monterey Car Week and looking like it just stepped out of the 1990s wearing an F1 GTR T-shirt two sizes too small.

This isn’t a gentle tribute; it’s a track monster in a bespoke tuxedo. Underneath it’s based on the T.50, but GMA says it’s got a “hardcore track-first set-up” and pays homage to Murray’s original Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR. There’s the roof snorkel, the centrally mounted quad exhaust, the massive split rear wing—everything short of the champagne-soaked pit crew. Look from the right angle, squint a bit, and you’d swear it was 1995 again.

GMA’s also stiffened up the suspension, bolted the engine straight to the chassis, and slapped on a dinner-table-sized splitter. Add that wing and a diffuser you could shelter under during a rainstorm, and you’re looking at proper downforce—not the pretend kind you see on certain tuner cars parked outside kebab shops.

Power? Oh yes. The 4.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 spins up to 690+ horses, all sent through a six-speed manual gearbox. No paddles, no hybrid trickery, just pure analog fury. In the age of hypercars that drive themselves faster than you can think, this thing is refreshingly mechanical—and mildly terrifying.

Here’s the catch: they’re only making five. And in the most “because I can” move of the year, all five are going to one client for an undisclosed price. We can only assume said client is either plotting the most exclusive one-make racing series in history, or simply enjoys parking £20 million worth of race cars in the breakfast room.

Deliveries start in 2026, and this is just the opening shot from GMA’s Special Vehicles arm. As CEO Phil Lee put it, they’re already working on more “automotive works of art.” Which is corporate speak for: start saving, peasants.

Source: Gordon Murray Automotive

NEW CARS

Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS “Tribute to Transfăgărășan” – Cloud-Kissing in Style

The Transfăgărășan. Jeremy Clarkson once called it “the best road in the world” — and for once, the internet didn’t shout him down. Ninety kilometres of glorious, switchbacking madness draped over the Făgăraș Mountains like some mischievous civil engineer was doodling in spaghetti. And now, it’s got its own Porsche.

Not just any Porsche, mind. This is the 911 Carrera 4 GTS “Tribute to Transfăgărășan” — a Sonderwunsch special so bespoke that only ten will ever exist. Each one was co-designed by its owner with the Porsche Individualisation & Classic team in Zuffenhausen. Think haute couture, but with more tyre smoke.

The first example has just landed in Romania, its Graphite Grey bodywork kissed with Guards Red wheel spokes, matching headlight rings, and the tiniest wink to patriotism — blue, yellow, and red engine grille slats. On the doors, a subtle “Tribute to Transfăgărășan” script; on the B-pillars, a badge that whispers “I’m one of ten — jealous yet?”

Inside? Exactly the kind of obsessive detailing Porsche fanatics dream about. The tribute logo glows on the door sills, is stitched into the headrests, and embossed into the centre armrest. Even the passenger dashboard gets in on the love letter to Romania’s mountain pass.

Underneath the art project lives something seriously potent: Porsche’s new T-Hybrid setup, a 3.6-litre flat-six good for 541PS and 610Nm. Zero to 100km/h in three seconds flat. Top speed: 312km/h. That’s quick enough to make the Transfăgărășan’s hairpins arrive like incoming artillery fire. And unlike plug-in hybrids, it doesn’t carry a small power station around — just 50kg more than the old GTS.

This all kicked off in 2024, when both the Transfăgărășan and the 911 Turbo celebrated their 50th birthdays. The Romanian and Moldovan Porsche clubs threw a mountain party with 110 cars, 200 guests, and enough flat-six noise to keep the marmots awake until Christmas. Porsche’s Sonderwunsch team was so smitten they decided to immortalise the moment in metal and leather.

Nine more of these tributes will find their homes later this August, but only one can claim to have broken in its tyres on the very road it honours. And if you happen to be on the Transfăgărășan when it passes you, do yourself a favour — pull over, take a photo, and listen. That sound is what happens when history, geography, and engineering get along famously.

Source: Porsche

NEW CARS

Ram Dakota Nightfall: The Comeback Kid With a Grudge

Ram has done something we never thought it would do — it’s admitted a mistake. Yes, the Hemi V-8 is back in the 1500, which is basically like getting your favorite pub to put real beer back on tap after a decade of serving kombucha. But while that’s great news for the full-size faithful, there’s still a suspiciously empty parking space in Ram’s lineup — the one marked mid-size pickup.

Enter stage left: the Ram Dakota Nightfall concept. Born in Brazil, rocking enough off-road gear to make a camel jealous, and almost certainly not coming to the US… yet. This is the teaser before the trailer before the movie — but oh boy, does it look promising.

It’s kitted out like a truck that’s just finished binge-watching Mad Max: 33-inch off-road tyres, 18-inch beadlock wheels, Fox suspension, a winch, bronze underbody armour, and a spare tyre bolted into the bed with auxiliary lights… which, admittedly, turns reversing into a game of “guess what you just hit.” But let’s be honest — nobody buying this cares about rearward visibility. They care about looking like they’ve just conquered the Atacama Desert on a Tuesday morning.

The face? All business. A trapezoidal grille big enough to swallow a family of raccoons, RAM screaming across the front in big bold letters, a slim LED light bar tying the headlamps together, and three amber LEDs in the bonnet scoop — a cheeky nod to the TRX and RHO hooligans. It’s corporate family resemblance meets post-apocalyptic fashion statement.

Here’s the thing: this isn’t the Dakota that Ram will eventually sell in America. That one, due in 2027, will be its own beast — body-on-frame, probably STLA Frame underpinnings, a proper rival for the Tacoma, Ranger, and Colorado. But if the South American Dakota is any clue, Ram’s design department is very much in its “gritty adventurer” phase, and we’re here for it.

So, will the American Dakota look like this? Probably. Will it have the same off-road toys? Hopefully. Will it be called “Dakota”? It bloody well should be — because that name deserves to be pulled out of the history bin, dusted off, and sent back into battle.

For now, though, we’ll just have to watch Brazil have all the fun while we wait another couple of years for Ram to finally fill that mid-size-shaped hole in the lineup.

Source: Ram