Car and Van News

Jaguar has unveiled the latest incarnation of its XJR, the fastest and most powerful version of the large saloon yet offered.

Shown to invited media ahead of this week’s New York Auto Show where it will make its public debut, the XJR has 541bhp from its 5-litre supercharged V8 engine.

Chevrolet is wowing the Geneva show with some serious American muscle – a drop-top version of its Corvette Stingray.

Just like its hardtop sister, the car is powered by a NASCAR-evoking 6.2-litre V8 of 450bhp, along with, neatly, 450lbft of torque.

The F150 is the car that Ferrari is pitching as the successor to its legendary Enzo.

Like its great rival the also-debuting McLaren P1, the F150 combines a petrol engine with an electric motor, but in this case the engine is a V12 unit.

Bentley describes the new version of its Continental four-door, the Flying Spur, as the Crewe brand’s most powerful car yet.

That power comes from a reworked version of the 6-litre 616bhp W12 engine, 64 horses up on the previous version, giving the car a 4.3-second 0-62mph time and a 200mph top speed.

McLaren’s P1 is likely to be the first car many visitors to the Geneva show look for.

The significantly more powerful sister to the MP4-12C is seen as the core rival to Ferrari’s Enzo-successor the F150, also debuting at Geneva.

McLaren has finally released full performance figures for its P1, which will debut at next week’s Geneva Motor Show as an upmarket sister to the existing MP4-12C.

The car will be capable of a 0-62mph time of under three seconds, go on to 218mph, and will cost a mere £866,000.

Nissan has announced that it is to return to the Le Mans 24-hour race in 2014, with another innovative car to follow its DeltaWing that ran in last year’s race.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made the announcement during a ceremony to open the brand’s new global headquarters and development centre for its Nismo performance and race division near Yokohama in Japan.