Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: DeTomaso Zonda (1971)

Not satisfied in producing one of the most astonishing sports cars of the ‘60s with the Mangusta, Italian carmaker DeTomaso asserted its ambitions in 1970 by presenting an even more striking sports car, the Pantera, alongside the luxurious Deauville four-door sedan, both powered by the same Ford V8 engine. Those new gorgeous models were the work of Dutch-born Tom Tjaarda, then head of design at Ghia. Despite those amazing cars, the styling house was struggling to make a profit and that same year, Alejandro DeTomaso sold Ghia along with a large chunk of his company to Ford, which was looking for that exotic Italian touch.

Want the world’s fastest diesel sports car? Then you need the Trident Icini

The Trident Icini (pictured) is now on sale We saw the Trident Icini at Salon Prive in 2012, and although it looked like it was ready to roll out as the world’s fastest diesel sports car it’s taken two year more to be ready to take orders. But now it’s gone on sale. Three models are on sale – the Iceni, Iceni Magna (it’s a fastback) and Icini Venturer (a sort of estate car) all sporting a 6.6 litre diesel engine which, in standard spec, comes with 395bhp and 700lb/ft of torque.

Peugeot 2008 Crossover: UK price from £12,995

That meant the Urban Crossover Concept from Geneva in 2012 turning in to the new Peugeot 2008 at the start of 2013 – before heading to Geneva 2013 for its public debut – and with that other French car maker, Renault, going a similar route with the Clio-based Captur, it’s clear the French see the future of compact cars moving away from hatchbacks to something more rugged. But unlike the Captur – which was a bit of a disappointing looking Clio on stilts – the Peugeot 2008 does look a more convincing offering, even if it’s a more generic-looking compact SUV than the Nissan Juke and would, for our money, be the pick over the Captur. Peugeot are targeting 8,000 sales a year in the UK for the 2008, and with prices starting at £12,995 and heading up to around £19,000 it seems, if anything, a quite modest target, especially as Peugeot reckons 65 per cent of 2008 customers will be new to the brand.