Concept Car of the Week: Matra Laser (1971)

Founded in 1937, French company Matra began its activities by manufacturing military equipment such as aeronautics and weaponry. In the mid ‘60s, under Jean-Luc Lagardere's ambitious direction, the company bought Automobiles Rene Bonnet to expand its portfolio with street and racing cars. The first model solely developed by Matra was the bonkers, but brilliant, 1967 M530, which took its name from the company's surface-to-air missile the R530.

CAR Most Wanted of 2014: Ferrari 458 Speciale

By the CAR road-test team First Official Pictures 23 December 2013 10:50 The first time we checked out the Ferrari 458 Speciale, it was parked tantalisingly in the bowels of the Ferrari’s Maranello factory. Tech boss Roberto Fedeli told us how Ferrari had calculated the Speciale would be an even higher performer: 10% lighter, 11% faster response, 40% quicker through the gearbox, and squeezing out an extra 34bhp from its 4.5-litre V8. Since then, we’ve driven the 202mph 458 Speciale, which Ferrari claims is different (not better than) a 458 Italia, and designed to appeal to a different kind of customer.

Spied: Mercedes-Benz SLC AMG? UPDATED

LATEST UPDATE Mercedes-Benz’s AMG performance car off-shoot has kicked off public road tests of its eagerly awaited new sportscar, which is planned to go on sale in North America in early 2015. Smaller and more affordable than the existing SLS AMG, which the new two door liftback will indirectly replace in the German car maker’s line-up, the new car is planned to compete directly with the Porsche 911, both on price and performance. The coupe model, caught here exiting AMG’s engineering headquarters on the outskirts of Stuttgart in Germany yesterday in the first round of durability testing, will proceed a convertible version of the front-engined, rear-wheel drive sportscar due out in 2016, with an expected price tag of around $100,000 in the US.