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NEW CARS

Red, White, and V10: The Salzburg Carrera GT

Some racing liveries transcend time. They stop belonging to a single car, a single year, or even a single victory, and instead become part of a brand’s DNA. For Porsche, few paint schemes carry the same emotional weight as the red-and-white Salzburg Design—forever linked to the marque’s first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, when Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood guided the short-tail 917, wearing starting number 23, into history.

More than half a century later, that iconic look has found a new canvas. Not on a museum-bound prototype or a static showpiece, but on one of the most revered road cars ever built: the Porsche Carrera GT.

This extraordinary transformation comes via Porsche’s exclusive Sonderwunsch programme, specifically through a Factory Re-Commission project commissioned by Puerto Rican Porsche enthusiast Victor Gómez. The result is a 2005 Carrera GT that doesn’t merely pay tribute to motorsport heritage—it revives it, meticulously and authentically, for the modern road.

Recommissioned, Not Restored

Calling this project a repaint would be a severe understatement. The Factory Re-Commission process effectively resets a car’s life clock. Gómez’s Carrera GT was completely disassembled, with every major technical component inspected, revised, or rebuilt. The naturally aspirated V10 was overhauled from the ground up, carbon-fiber components were recoated, and the entire vehicle was returned to what Porsche describes as a “zero-kilometer condition,” fully documented in the factory archive.

Only then did the aesthetic transformation begin.

Adapting the Salzburg Design from the slab-sided, purpose-built 917 to the flowing, organic form of the Carrera GT was anything but straightforward. The geometry, proportions, and surface transitions of the two cars are worlds apart. What worked on a long-distance prototype designed for the Mulsanne Straight would not automatically translate to a mid-engined road car sculpted for both speed and beauty.

Porsche designer Grant Larson and his team approached the task with the same discipline applied to a new production model. Initial sketches gave way to detailed renderings, followed by a hands-on phase where the Carrera GT was physically taped to evaluate how the red-and-white lines would move across its body. Only after this painstaking process were the final paint templates created.

The finished result is striking without being forced. Indian red flows across the Carrera GT’s carbon-fiber skin, balanced by crisp white sections and anchored visually by the famous number 23. A transparent protective film ensures the hand-painted finish is preserved, even as Gómez intends to drive the car on the public roads of Puerto Rico rather than confine it to a collection.

Carbon, Contrast, and Cohesion

Beyond the headline livery, the exterior detailing is a masterclass in restraint. Matte black carbon fiber provides contrast against the bold paintwork, appearing on the roof halves, A- and B-pillars, mirror caps, front air duct, and rear diffuser. The engine cover grilles are finished in black matte anodizing, while the original five-spoke Carrera GT wheels are painted black and fitted with colored Porsche crests—a subtle nod to tradition.

Inside, the personalization continues with equal intent. Large sections of the interior are trimmed in Indian Red Alcantara, including the dashboard, door panels, steering wheel rim, center console, and even the front luggage compartment lining. The effect is dramatic but cohesive, enveloping the driver in a cockpit that feels both bespoke and motorsport-inspired.

Matte carbon fiber once again plays a supporting role, used on the seat shells, air vent surrounds, and instrument cover. For the seat centers, side bolsters, and headrests, Porsche’s upholstery specialists selected black FIA-certified textile originally developed for the 918 Spyder—a non-flammable material rooted firmly in racing practice. It’s a fitting detail, especially when one remembers that even the original 917 endurance racer was required to carry two seats.

Sonderwunsch, Defined

Projects like this define the modern meaning of Sonderwunsch. More than a customization department, it is a collaborative process where customers work directly with Porsche designers and engineers to turn personal visions into factory-approved reality. Every idea is vetted for technical feasibility, durability, and brand integrity. Every modification is recorded in Porsche’s archives, ensuring complete transparency and long-term traceability.

In Gómez’s case, the process involved multiple visits to Germany, following the project closely from concept to completion. His verdict speaks volumes: a Carrera GT restored to new condition, tailored inside and out to his personal vision, and infused with one of the most storied liveries in Porsche history.

A Modern Classic Meets a Racing Soul

When the Carrera GT debuted in 2003, it stood among the fastest production cars in the world, capable of 330 km/h. Its carbon-fiber monocoque and mid-mounted engine layout were direct transfers from racing technology, and its 5.7-liter naturally aspirated V10—originally conceived for Le Mans—produced 450 kW (612 PS) while propelling a curb weight of just 1,380 kilograms.

Even today, the Carrera GT remains a benchmark for purity: no turbos, no hybrid assistance, no electronic dilution of the driving experience. Wrapping that mechanical masterpiece in the Salzburg Design doesn’t dilute its identity—it amplifies it.

This is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It is a reminder that Porsche’s greatest road cars are inseparable from its racing past. And in this singular Carrera GT, Le Mans history doesn’t just live on—it drives on.

Source: Porsche

News

Why the EU’s Emissions U-Turn Could Reshape the Road to 2035

For nearly a decade, Europe’s automotive future has seemed pre-written: the internal-combustion engine would be legislated into extinction, with 2035 marking the end of the road for new petrol and diesel cars. Now, that script may be getting a major rewrite—and the aftershocks would be felt from Stuttgart to Turin.

According to Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party—the largest bloc in the European Parliament—the EU is considering dropping the outright ban on combustion engines in favor of a less absolutist, emissions-based approach. Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Weber said that from 2035 onward, manufacturers would be required to cut fleet CO₂ emissions by 90 percent, not 100 percent.

In regulatory terms, that 10 percent gap is enormous.

“We will not have a 100 percent target from 2040 either,” Weber added, making it clear that a blanket ban on combustion engines would be taken “off the table.” If adopted, this shift would allow existing engine technologies—at least in highly optimized or electrified forms—to survive well into the next decade.

A Direct Contradiction—or Political Course Correction?

The comments clash with recent claims from Tim Tozer, former UK head of Vauxhall, who suggested the EU was instead planning to delay the ban by five years, pushing the zero-emissions deadline to 2040. Under that scenario, all new vehicles sold from January 1, 2040, would need to be fully electric.

Weber’s statement suggests something far less binary: no fixed end date for combustion engines, but emissions targets strict enough to dramatically limit what survives.

In practice, a 90 percent CO₂ reduction opens the door to advanced plug-in hybrids, ultra-efficient combustion engines, and synthetic-fuel-compatible powertrains—alongside full battery-electric vehicles. It’s not a rollback of climate ambition so much as a recognition that the market hasn’t moved at the speed policymakers once expected.

The Market Reality Check

Several automakers have quietly welcomed the idea of a more flexible framework. While electrification remains the industry’s long-term direction, the transition has proven uneven across Europe.

Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon recently summed up the issue bluntly: electrification isn’t failing, but expectations were set on outdated assumptions. Markets like Norway are nearly fully electric, but others—Croatia, Italy, Spain, Poland—are still seeing single-digit EV penetration.

That disparity makes a one-size-fits-all mandate politically and economically fraught. Manufacturers are being asked to hit aggressive electric sales targets in regions where charging infrastructure, incentives, and consumer confidence remain underdeveloped.

Not everyone is convinced. Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson has criticized the idea of slowing regulatory pressure, arguing that it undermines momentum and long-term investment certainty. For brands that have already bet heavily on full electrification, regulatory hesitation risks rewarding slower adopters.

The UK: Out of Step or Holding Firm?

The biggest question mark now hangs over the UK. The current Labour government has reinstated a 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, with a requirement that all new vehicles sold from 2035 onward be fully zero-emission. If Brussels softens its stance, London may find itself enforcing one of the toughest automotive timelines in the developed world—alone.

That’s a risky position, especially as electric vehicle sales growth begins to cool. While EV registrations are still up 26 percent year-to-date in 2025, momentum has slowed sharply, with November sales rising just 3.6 percent over last year.

Meanwhile, manufacturers are struggling to meet ZEV mandate targets: 28 percent zero-emission sales in 2025, rising to 33 percent in 2026. Miss those targets, and the fines are severe.

Incentives In, Costs Coming

Part of the slowdown may be traced to mixed policy signals. The UK’s £3,750 Electric Car Grant—now extended to March 2030—offers a clear incentive. But looming over it is the proposed eVED pay-per-mile tax, which would see EV and plug-in hybrid drivers paying more than ICE owners on top of standard road tax.

For consumers already wary of charging access, resale values, and upfront costs, the message is anything but clear.

The Bigger Picture

If the EU does formally abandon a total combustion-engine ban, it won’t mark a retreat from electrification—but it will signal a pivot toward pragmatism. The industry’s transformation is still underway, just not at the uniform pace regulators once envisioned.

Whether this flexibility accelerates innovation or simply delays the inevitable remains to be seen. What’s clear is that Europe’s road to zero emissions is no longer a straight line—and the internal-combustion engine may yet have a few more chapters left to write.

Source: Auto Express

Story

The Bare-Bones Birth of a Legend: How a Naked Chassis in Turin Became the World’s First Supercar

Turin, November 1965. The crowds packing the motor show expected swoopy Italian metal, maybe a new coachbuilt coupe or two. What they didn’t expect was a bare chassis—painted satin black, riddled with holes, and wearing four stark white exhaust pipes—stealing the entire spotlight. No body, no leather, not even gauges. Just a skeletal frame and a transversely mounted 4.0-liter V-12 sitting behind the cabin like an unexploded bomb.

This was Lamborghini’s P400 prototype. And it wasn’t merely a tease—it was the spark that would ignite the creation of the Miura, the car that would define the term supercar before the word even existed.

Rebels in Sant’Agata

The idea began the previous summer, not as an official project but as a late-night fantasy shared by three young hotshots in the Lamborghini ranks: engineer Giampaolo Dallara, his colleague Paolo Stanzani, and fearless test driver Bob Wallace. All three were barely older than the cars they were tuning, and all shared the same forbidden dream—racing.

Ferruccio Lamborghini had no interest in taking on Ferrari at their own game on the track. So the trio flipped the script. If they couldn’t go racing, they’d bring racing to Lamborghini’s road cars instead. Thus was born the architecture that would become Project L105: a tiny, ultra-light, uncompromising chassis meant to support something wild.

To his credit—and eventually, to the world’s benefit—Ferruccio let them cook.

A Skeleton Ready to Sprint

When Lamborghini rolled the P400 chassis onto the Turin Motor Show floor on November 3, 1965, alongside the more civilized 350 GT and 350 GTS, journalists spit out their espressos. The structure, built by Marchesi of Modena, used 0.8-millimeter steel folded and drilled to the point of translucence. The central tub carried the load. Two subframes held the mechanicals. The whole thing barely tipped 120 kilograms.

It was a racing car in everything but name: double-wishbones at all four corners, Girling discs, Borrani wire wheels. But the party trick—the feature that made engineers either swoon or faint—was the revolutionary integration of the engine and gearbox into one compact, transverse unit behind the seats. Topping it all: a dozen upright Weber intake trumpets shouting to the heavens.

Even without bodywork, the thing radiated menace.

The Coachbuilder Scramble

Coachbuilders flocked to the stand like moths to a lit MIG welder. Touring wanted to shape it, but finances clouded the partnership. Pininfarina was tied up with other automakers. And then came Nuccio Bertone.

According to legend, Ferruccio greeted him at the booth with a jab: “You’re the last coachbuilder to show up.” Bertone studied the exposed frame, paused, and fired back: “My atelier will make the perfect shoe for this beautiful foot.”

Whether or not the exchange happened exactly that way, the meaning stuck. Bertone had seen the future—and wanted to clothe it.

During the quiet Christmas break, his studio unveiled sketches to Ferruccio, Dallara, and Stanzani. They weren’t just good; they were radical. Without hesitation, the drawings were approved.

From Chassis to Myth

Four months later, Geneva 1966. The black skeletal wonder from Turin had transformed into a molten wedge of Italian audacity: the Lamborghini Miura. Long, low, sensual, and threatening all at once, it was a grand-touring car reimagined through the lens of motorsport engineering.

The world had never seen anything like it. And while history sometimes casts the Miura as design-first and engineering-second, the truth is the opposite: its soul was forged first in steel, then clothed in style.

Sixty Years Later: Celebrating the Supercar Zero

In 2026, Lamborghini will mark six decades since the Miura’s debut with a full year of official festivities, including a dedicated Polo Storico tour honoring the machine that rewrote performance-car language. It wasn’t just fast. It wasn’t just beautiful. It birthed a new category altogether—supercar—a term coined by an English journalist grasping for words to describe something that simply didn’t exist before.

It’s fitting that the Miura began as a raw, unfiltered idea, shown to the public without makeup. Because beneath every supercar since—every Aventador, every McLaren, every wide-eyed kid’s poster hero—you can still see its bones.

A satin-black chassis. Four white exhausts. Twelve vertical trumpets. And three young rebels who refused to take “no” for an answer.

Source: Lamborghini