Car talk
Want one of these? Don’t hold your breath
This unusual-looking beast is a one-off supercar built by McLaren Special Operations (MSO), the bespoke division within McLaren Automotive. Called the McLaren X-1 it is based on the company’s carbon MonoCell structure and has a unique, bespoke “timeless” and “classically elegant” body. It took two and a half years to build, is road legal and was revealed at Pebble Beach, in Monterey, USA over the weekend.
Celebrate the Shelby Cobra’s 50th birthday
Ford has built this one-off 2013 Shelby GT500 Cobra to commemorate the late Carroll Shelby and the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra. Powered by an 850bhp, Ford Racing supercharged V8 it has so much traction it needs 13-inch-wide rear wheels wrapped in 345-section high-performance tyres to grip the road. The bodywork is finished in Guardsman Blue with Wimbledon White stripes.
New X3 comes with rear-wheel-drive
Back in the real world, BMW is introducing the first rear-wheel-drive only X3. The X3 sDrive18d is powered by a 143bhp, 2.0-litre diesel engine with either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox. Acceleration is 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds and top speed is 121mph. Combined fuel consumption is 55.4mpg and emissions are just 135g/km of CO2. If you needed a reason to look twice at the X3, this might be it.