FERRARI'S ICONA RANGE IS ALWAYS AN INTERESTING topic of conversation amongst those of an evo persuasion. The first two offspring of this emergent product lineage were 2018's Monza SP1 and SP2, those windscreen-free, chop-top 812 Superfasts that set out to ape Maranello's sports-racing cars of the 1950s. A wildly exciting way to enjoy a Sunday morning drive? Or a bit self-conscious, perhaps? Certainly, it's fair to say you'd need to be a particularly confident soul to tool around in one.
Shudderingly expensive, in a world where you're asked if you want to buy one and not the other way around, the price is essentially meaningless and removed from any sort of traditional logical comparison with cars of equivalent performance or content; you want one, this is what it costs, you pay. Soon Aston Martin and McLaren tried something very similar, with varying degrees of commercial success it must be said, making this bizarre sub-niche one of the most curious motoring diversions of recent years.
Icona, though, is here to stay, positioned alongside the firm's occasional hypercars within the uppermost canopy of the Maranello tree, and if the first two cars took their inspiration from swashbuckling duels on closed public roads featuring Hawthorn, Collins, and Castelotti, then SP3 takes its inspiration from a different decade. Now we're into the 1960s and Ferrari's titanic battles with first Ford and then Porsche, from the 250P of 1963 right through to the 312PB of 1973 (as described after this test). Most of all, we're talking about arguably its most voluptuous and meaningful winner of all: the virtually priceless P4.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
