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When Tweaked Performance’s main man, Gerald Morten was considering a project car, he just had to scratch the Mk2 Golf GTI itch that had been bugging him for the last 40 years.

The VAZ 2121 Niva Cabriolet is a convertible version of the VAZ 2121 Niva, which is a compact SUV produced by the Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ. The Niva Cabriolet was first introduced in 1993 and was in production until 2002.

The Niva Cabriolet featured a removable soft top, which allowed drivers to enjoy open-air driving. It was powered by a 1.7-liter gasoline engine that produced 80 horsepower and 94 lb-ft of torque. The engine was paired with a four-speed manual transmission and a full-time four-wheel drive system.

The Niva Cabriolet was known for its off-road capabilities and rugged design. It had a ground clearance of 22 cm, which allowed it to tackle tough terrain with ease. The Cabriolet also featured a basic interior with simple controls and functional features.

Today, the Niva Cabriolet has become somewhat of a cult classic among car enthusiasts, and it is highly sought after by collectors. Despite being out of production for over 20 years, it remains a popular choice for those who enjoy off-road driving and open-air motoring.

1994 BMW M5 Touring E34 -
BMW could have quite easily got away without producing the M5 Touring – the 540i was a pretty able performer in its own right – but the M5 should have demonstrated that there was definitely a market for this type of car. For some reason – and one suggests it was down to cost – BMW decided not to produce an E39 M5 Touring, and we had to wait another 12 years before there would be another M Touring when the E61 M5 was launched. The E34 M5 Touring could have launched a dynasty of fast M estates, but it wasn’t to be. In the intervening years, Audi managed to muscle in on the act, and, along with a few contenders from Mercedes AMG, more or less wrapped up the market for high-performance estates. Very much one of those Sliding Doors moments…

One of only eight Series I Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWBs with covered headlamps

Ferrari Classiche certified, confirming it to be a fully matching-numbers example

Boasting an unbroken chain of ownership and exhibited at a number of prestigious events including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Short wheelbase and covered headlamps – the most desirable specification of the closed-coupé Ferrari 400 Superamericas

Dressed with a dramatic and desperately beautiful Pininfarina-designed Aerodinamico body, worthy of exhibition at the world’s greatest concours events including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

The flagship twelve-cylinder Ferrari of the period, uniquely coach-built and sold to the marque’s most important clients with Enzo Ferrari’s personal blessing

The Ferrari 400 Superamerica
“Owning one should be the goal of every automotive enthusiast everywhere.” That’s how the famous American magazine Car & Driver summarised its in-depth review of the Ferrari 400 Superamerica back in 1963. Strong words indeed, but then this was no ordinary Prancing Horse.
The 400 Superamerica followed the tried-and-tested Gran Turismo recipe – one which, as the austerity of the War faded, was becoming more and more sought-after. Ferrari’s flagship model, it employed the legendary Colombo V12 in large four-litre form, a short- or long-wheelbase chassis, overdrive, disc brakes at all four corners (a first for a Ferrari road car) and a bespoke coupé or cabriolet body styled in a manner of different ways by Pininfarina.

Coach-built. We can’t emphasise enough how painstakingly built to the original owners’ exacting specifications these cars were. And said owners weren’t your average Ferrari customers – they were VIPs, loyal brand disciples, pop stars, captains of industry and even royals. Il Commendatore himself drove a 400 Superamerica. Need we say anymore?
Ferrari 400 Superamerica production was split into two series. The first, produced from 1959–1962, comprised a mere 15 short-wheelbase (2,400mm) cars, which were bestowed with a stunning Aerodinamico closed-coupé body by Pininfarina. It’s a dramatic design befitting of the world’s greatest motor show stands, with swooping curves, tapered overhangs, lashings of chrome and eleven exquisitely aligned vents in each of the front wings.

Chassis number 3559 SA
Even in the rarefied realms of the Ferrari 400 Superamerica, there are certain combinations of specification which, today, significantly increase the desirability. The car we’re honoured to be offering – chassis number 3559 SA – is one such example.
Crucially, this is one of only eight Ferrari 400 Superamericas Series Is ordered with covered headlamps – an option which, in our opinion, enhances the overall aesthetic harmony of the Aerodinamico coachwork.
The exhaustive build process began at the dawn of 1962 and this Ferrari was not signed off until July, by which point chassis number 3559 SA was resplendent in Blu Sera Italver over a Blu Connolly interior. The car was delivered new to Luigi Chinetti’s Ferrari concessionaire on the East Coast of America. Chinetti in turn found this 400 Superamerica its first home with one C. O. Marshall Jr. in Ohio.
Clearly fond of his flagship Ferrari, Marshall Jr. retained chassis 3559 SA for a decade, covering over 20,000 miles and even exhibiting it at the fifth Annual Ferrari Club of America meeting in 1968, where it won the Judges’ Choice award. The car remained in the United States under the stewardship of one further owner until 1989, at which point it was exported to Switzerland and acquired by Arnold and Walter Meier on the shores of Lake Zurich.
The Meiers were true disciples of the Prancing Horse, religiously maintaining the 400 Superamerica and, with a view to preserving the factory authenticity, commissioning a comprehensive restoration in 1993 with Edi Wyss Engineering in Switzerland.
The restoration complete, the Meiers transported the car back across the Atlantic, this time to the West Coast, and entered some of America’s greatest events, including the International Concours d’Elegance in Monterey and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where chassis 3559 SA contested the ‘Ferrari Grand Touring Coupés up to 1968’ class in 1994.
Two years later, in 1997, Werner Meier drove this 400 Superamerica to the Ferrari 50th-anniversary celebration in Rome/Modena – a pilgrimage which, quite rightly, earned him and his beloved car a photo in that year’s Ferrari Yearbook.
The Meiers only parted with chassis 3559 SA in April of 2003, selling to a collector in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2011, the legendary American racing driver and racing school founder Skip Barber acquired this historically-significant Ferrari. His goal with the car was to win a revered Platinum Award at the world-famous Cavallino Classic in Florida and, with that in mind, he sent it to the Ferrari specialist Greg Jones to put it in the best possible stead.
The extensive work paid off, Barber clinching the Platinum Award at The Breakers in 2012. Of more importance was the Ferrari Classiche certification, which chassis 3559 SA subsequently received, confirming its matching-numbers chassis, engine, gearbox and differential.
This Ferrari 400 Superamerica was acquired by its current owner in 2013 and has since been carefully stored and seldomly driven. Today, the car is accompanied by its Ferrari Classiche certification binder.
In the period, these ultra-rare and highly exclusive flagship twelve-cylinder Ferrari Gran Turismos were the preserve of those who Enzo Ferrari personally held in the highest esteem – and were built to an accordingly high quality. Perhaps unsurprisingly, their stature in the market has remained lofty to this day, bolstered by their rarity, bespoke no-two-alike nature and, of course, exceptional beauty.
Chassis number 3559 SA distinguishes itself further with its unbroken chain of owners, each of whom fastidiously maintained it and exhibited it at prestigious events across the world, and its fully matching-numbers provenance. Whether you’re looking to reintroduce this 400 Superamerica Aerodinamico into the international concours circuit (to which it would be welcomed with open arms) or simply after a jaw-droppingly beautiful and astonishingly capable Gran Turismo for cross-continental jaunts, this is a Ferrari for the most discerning of collectors. In fact, 400 Superamericas reside in the world’s most prominent Ferrari collections. Here is an exceedingly rare chance to join them.


Year of manufacture - 7/1962
Car type - Coupé
Chassis number - 3559 SA
Engine number - 3559 SA
Electric windows - Yes
Reference number - CS244
Drive - LHD
Condition - Restored
Interior colour - Beige
Interior type - Leather
Number of doors - 2
Number of seats - 2
Location - United Kingdom
Exterior colour - Blue
Gearbox - Manual
Drivetrain - 2wd
Fuel type - Petrol

1973 Volvo 164 HD images

The Moskvich 412 is a car produced by the Soviet/Russian car manufacturer, AZLK (later known as IzhAvto), from 1967 to 1976. It was an updated version of the previous Moskvich 408 model, featuring a new body design, more powerful engine, and improved suspension.

The Moskvich 412 was powered by a 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine, which could produce up to 75 horsepower. It was available in both sedan and wagon body styles, and was widely used as a taxi in the Soviet Union.

Despite its popularity, the Moskvich 412 was known for its somewhat outdated design and limited reliability. However, it was considered a durable and affordable vehicle for its time, and became a symbol of Soviet-era transportation.

ABF 2.0-litre engined 1985 Volkswagen Scirocco GL Mk2 Typ 53B

1995 BMW 740i Automatic E38

1983 Volkswagen Polo Coupe Mk2 Typ 86C

Supercharged 400bhp 3.8-litre 1996 Porsche 911 993 RSR tribute

This has to be one of the most peculiar-looking cars ever to wear the Zagato badge - and that’s saying something. Autech was, in effect, Nissans bespoke department, which was known for all sorts - from preparing racing cars through to adapting vehicles for people with disabilities. The Stelvio was to be the first of a series of low-volume, luxuriously trimmed and exotically styled cars named after famous Italian passes.

1971 OTAS Grand Prix Coupe LHD / 820 Tigre

2001 BMW 530i Automatic M-Sport E39

1984 ZAZ 968M Zaporozhets

What better way to celebrate our birthday than with our most valuable photoshoot ever, gathering together 100 years of Britain’s fastest cars?

In the pantheon of motoring endeavour, a sporting vehicle’s maximum speed has arguably held greater sway in manufacturers’ marketing departments than any other performance metric. It may be less relevant now, when even the lowliest city car can comfortably exceed the national speed limit, but for most performance-car makers a high top speed remains a badge of honour – even if experiencing it properly nowadays means a visit to a German autobahn or Australia’s Northern Territory (or your local prison cell, if you’re particularly foolhardy).

The 10 road cars described on the following pages, decade by decade, have been the fastest of their kind officially sold in the UK across the past 100 years. They’re important because their envelope-pushing Vmaxes have been achieved despite all the compromises wrought by having to make a car compliant for everyday use on the public road. Yes, top speed has been their collective stock-in-trade, but in each case it has also meant the cars were safer, stronger, aerodynamically more efficient and stopped/handled with greater aplomb than less ambitious machines. In other words, they are pinnacle cars that improved the breed overall.

That this will be the last time we can put together such a set of cars is poignant, too. It’s unlikely that any production car this decade and beyond will exceed our final entry’s 300mph capability, due to mandated electrification looming ever closer. Which means that this is also a final celebration of the mighty internal-combustion engine, in all its myriad guises, from four to 16 cylinders. It has powered the automotive world for the past 130 years, so it’s only right and proper that we showcase its meteoric rise in power, durability and efficiency before it’s outlawed from new cars completely. So for now, fasten your seatbelts as we accelerate through 200 miles per hour in 100 years.

Thanks to Everyman Racing for the use of its Prestwold test track (everymanracing.co.uk)

KORDA Poles – and 200mph – apart, the Vauxhall 30-98 and Bugatti Chiron bookend our journey. Below: behind the scenes of a memorable dayL/MAX EDLESTON