Everything you need to know about cars this week: 19 Aug '18

"This GT4 uses a 380bhp flat-six engine, free of turbos just like the GT4 road car. Good for noise. Unlike the road car, it comes with a PDK paddleshift gearbox. Good for keeping your hands on the wheel for the inevitable opposite lock scenarios…"

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"This Yellow Bird isn’t yellow, which is mildly disappointing. But it is all original, and that counts for a great deal. Originally destined for RUF’s Swiss importer, chassis #10 was bought by a German. He had another CTR on order, but bought this one to tide him over until that car was finished."

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"It’s the eighth month and the sixth day of 2018, and the Daikoko Futo rest-slash parking area is proving elusive. Yeah, we’re lost again, having got confused navigating Tokyo’s raised expressway, but eventually we spot the correct downward spiral exit into Tokyo Bay and onto the islet southwest of Kawasaki City and before Yokohama further to the south."

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"A new Bowler is coming, and you ought to be interested. Where its previous vehicles have been off-road playthings, perhaps only relevant if you have frequent access to closed forests or disused quarries, this one’s designed for the road. Yikes."

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"The Dodge Challenger is rapidly becoming the Porsche 911 of the muscle car world. Having started its third generation in 2008 with a relatively modest line-up, the nameplate has now become its own mini range of 15+ distinct models, each one packing its own unique mix of power and parts."

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"Remember Face Swap? Y’know, the 2016 app that had every man, woman and dog in the land swapping faces for Whatsapp group chat lols? Well, this is what happens when cars get in on the act."

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"He apparently made the decision to retire from the sport a few months ago – a ‘firm’ decision – though noted how Liberty Media and F1 boss Chase Carey had tried to persuade him to remain in Formula 1."

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"'I’ve been a McLaren fan for as long as I can remember,' explains new McLaren signing Carlos Sainz, who has been confirmed as Fernando Alonso’s replacement for 2019."

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"A Bloomberg report states the investment by Geely – which bought Lotus in May last year, and Volvo back in 2010 – will be used to expand the sports car company’s Hethel plant and more."

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"The best interpretation is that it’s pitched as a kind of permanent Festival of Speed crossed with a bike ride-out, but with hipster-quality surroundings. There’s a restaurant, rooms, a La Marzocco coffee machine that looks like a cross between an industrial steam press and late ‘50s aeroplane cockpit and enough hardstanding for a medium-sized car show, all ringed by a pretty little woodland."

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"Enter the 840bhp Dodge Demon, 755bhp Corvette ZR1 and 640bhp Camaro ZL1 1LE - mostly sideways - at the Thermal track in California for the ultimate muscle car test…"

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"The best thing about Japan, as we’ve come to discover, is its eclecticism, enthusiasm, and general love of cars. But there’s a tiny goldmine secreted away on a nondescript main street somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo that’s a highlight of incongruous."

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"The camouflage isn’t really fooling anyone, though; it’s fairly obvious this is a new BMW saloon car. You could be forgiven for mistaking it for a 5 Series, because as with every generation before it, the 3 Series has grown a bit, being wider and longer than the car it replaces."

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"Welcome to a Ferrari of perhaps unrivalled specialness. This 1963 275 P, which bears chassis no. 0816, won Le Mans outright in 1963 and 1964, making it one of very few cars (and the one and only Ferrari) to have won the mother of all motor races twice."

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"Under “proper” conditions – ie, not in England – the solar panels can generate enough energy to cover an extra 30km on top of the standard battery charge range of 250km."

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"It’s the - deep breath - Ford Performance 50th Anniversary Mustang Cobra Jet turnkey race car, and while the name may seem excessive, it’s got nothing on the excessiveness of what lies beneath the badges."

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"When it comes to parasailing, there are pretty much three ways to fly. One is to run downhill until your parachute inflates and you’re lifted on the wind. Another is to be towed by a speedboat, dangling beneath your canopy like a flying puppet. Or – and you’d be surprised at how few people go for this one – you could be strung behind a Bentley as it barrels along an Icelandic airstrip before the line is cut and you’re sucked into a thermal vortex which blows you in the direction of an active and somewhat hot-headed volcano."

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"Available in both two-door ‘90’ or four-door ‘110’ spec, it’s a properly-engineered luxo twist on the British classic. It’s also equipped with plenty of good things, including a hulking great 430bhp petrol V8, plenty of plushness and enough rugged extras to make Lara Croft envious. Though be warned: the price tag is hefty. £160k hefty."

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"This year marks the Gumball 3000’s 20th anniversary. Yes, really. The hedonistic party on wheels for the world’s one-per-centers is as old as Google and Baby One More Time. To celebrate this achievement, 2018’s rally decided to go big and venture into unknown territory: Japan."

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