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As a marque, Infiniti has rarely ventured into the scary world of motorsport. The most prominent involvement they ever had with racing was the powerplant for the 2002-2015 Indy Lights championship, a Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) prepared unit which was based on the 4.5 litre V8 from the Q45. When this engine was dropped from service in the small open-wheelers just two years ago, Infiniti’s engagement in motorsport dropped to a neat zero. In the same year, however, Infiniti brought itself to a small green blob across the pond in order to race in the British Touring Car Championship.

Peugeot’s rally history goes a long way back. Most prominently, the glory days of Group B with the savage 205 T16, duking it out for glory against fierce competition from the likes of Lancia, Audi and Renault. Despite appearing slightly later than all these contemporaries, Peugeot had built a cracker of a car which practically dominated the scene until Lancia’s incredibly sophisticated Delta S4 came to wipe the floor with the rivals.

When we think of vehicular record holders, certain things might spring to mind. Very recently we’ve seen Porsche drive home a new Nürburgring production car lap record with their new 911 GT2 RS, and perhaps Koenigsegg taking the 0-400-0 trophy from Bugatti’s clutches. The common denominator with all these cars though, is that they’re all supercars. This should not come as a surprise, as very little on the road could even hit 400km/h, let alone get there from a standstill and back to a halt again in just over half a minute.

Back in the 1980s, Renault had become the epitome of the ‘French car company’. They made quirky, perhaps what you’d call weird, cars which certainly chased a different sort of buyer as opposed to the contemporary BMW or Audi. They had grown not too fond of this image, and with the turn of the 90s decided to change their game. They brought themselves down a notch, making more reserved-looking cars in a bid to appeal to a wider audience, more sales and ultimately more money. They wanted to show the big German industry leaders what they were truly capable of.

The humble Renault Twingo is a car renowned for general cheapness. Working examples in Europe can be had for as little as €50, a perfectly fine car for not very much money. When launched into the relatively new city car market in 1993, Renault dared to be different in the styling department by characterising the vehicle with a cute little face of its own which set it apart from most cars on the road due to it actually being designed this way.

6-wheeled cars have been experimented with, though have never really been successful. From Formula 1 cars in the shape of (for example) the Tyrell P34 and Williams FW08B and D to supercars such as the Covini C3A, they have proven benefits but these are mostly outweighed by negatives. In terms of the F1 cars, more tyres means smaller wheels could be used whilst retaining the same amounts of grip, providing better aerodymamics allowing the vehicles to reach higher top speeds. In turn, pit stops were made longer as more tyres in turn had to be changed.

When ‘V8’ is mentioned in conversation, images of frighteningly quick drag cars and muscle cars are often conjured up. Whilst European and even some Asian manufacturers have had their respective slices of the neat 8-cylinder pie, the Americans and Australians tend to be famed most for their love of V8 powered automobiles. It may, then, come as a surprise to you, that the French tried to dabble in this unfamiliar game, by whipping up a more exciting, faster version of a preexisting model which was only ever used as a test mule. It’s Frankenstein’s beret-wearing cousin.

Touring car racing is something we all know and mostly love. It’s a great blend of technology, driver skill and close racing, and when you throw in some of the best looking car/ livery combinations imaginable, you have the foundations for a fantastic type of motorsport.

Nowadays there is a strong market for driver-focused cars. A prime example is the Porsche 911R; limited production and desirable specification set it in good stead for appreciation in value for the future (it’s well on its way to the millions already). What do the other 99% have, though? When you can’t splash out more than the value of the average house on one car, what options are there? If you’re looking for involvement and fun or simply a rewarding driving experience, key features to look for are as little weight as possible, adequate amounts of power and a good chassis.

The Matiz is not a very widely appreciated car. Originally sold as a Daewoo, it was instantly dismissed by many petrolheads and fate had it sink into the murky depths of modern econoboxes. In the mid-noughties, GM selling it as a Chevrolet did nothing to help its cause. The real stand-out Matiz came in the shape of a Chevy-badged example modified by European company ‘Fourdin Auto Sport,’ who, sure as anything, packed the dinky Matiz with quite a punch.

Citroën used to be a dominant force in the field of large executive cars. The iconic DS revolutionised the segment with all its luxuries and quirky features that would be uncommon on modern cars, let alone 1960s ones. The spiritual successor to the DS was the CX, which shared its father’s success and proved staggeringly popular, with Citroën selling over one million examples in the 15 year (17 for the estate) production run.

The words Lister, Jaguar and Le Mans go way, way back and together form one formidable force in endurance racing. Fast forward to the late 1980s and the bond is still alive and kicking, though in this case churning out road cars. First came the 6.0 Mk III XJS conversion package, but the crème de la crème came three years later in 1986, in the shape of what you are currently admiring; the Lister 7.0.

When we think of four-door Porsches, the Panamera, Macan and Cayenne typically spring to mind (setting aside the fact that two of them are, in fact, SUVs), though one that is forgotten and often overlooked is the one-off 911 4-door. Based on a pre-964 first generation 911, this cut-and-shunt job took place back in the late 1960s (‘67 to be exact) and was a rather professional job, and had a genuine purpose. The man whose idea this was (a Texan dentist known as Mr.

Eastern Block countries, when it comes to cars, tend not to deliver as much as would be hoped for. Classic examples of this would be the good old Lada (amongst its generations) and toxic Trabant 601, which, whilst loved by some nowadays, were not ‘good’ cars by definition. One manufacturer that sticks out head and shoulders above the rest, however, is Tatra. Tatra was a Czech luxury car manufacturer founded in the 1840s, and which manufactured passenger cars up until 1999, and continue to this day to build trucks and lorries. What I’m telling you about now however, is the 603.

The Wankel rotary engine originated from Germany, being first introduced by Felix Wankel for the NSU Spider in 1964 (development started in ‘61), though is now often associated with Mazda for its legendary RX-series of sports cars, all of which powered by rotary engines of varying size and aspiration. From the perspective of physics, the rotary engine should have natural benefits.

If you ever wanted a strong contender for the best sounding estate/ saloon car ever but had a strict budget for secondhand cars, here’s your best bet. The B5 VW Passat was praised by journalists, saying things such as ‘respectable performance for not unreasonable money’, so when news arose that the already- capable -enough big VW was to get an 8-cylinder engine option, excitement started to flow freely.

Ah, the all knowing, all doing, all seeing LS. It’s been around, this engine, and it’s made its rounds in countless different vehicles. Everything from drag cars to Porsches, it’s likely has at some point had a Chevy-shaped heart transplant. The pushrod masterpiece is basically always swapped into RWD cars due to simplicity, as this does not require transmission modifications and the likes, however GM saw fit of the powerplant in a FWD car.

If the automotive world ever needed an analogy for the term ‘if it fits, it sits’, this would be it. The Mercedes SL73 AMG was a limited production, high-performance version of the R129 SL-class, and had perhaps one of the most engine-favouring engine : car ratios of any car… ever. Let’s get started then.

Herbie. Barbie. The annoying girl who always has way too much makeup on. Why are these relevant? Stereotypes. The Beetle has always been characterised as the Love Bug thanks to the hugely popular movies, Barbie’s wheels or one of the girliest vehicles on the road today. Either that, or Hitler’s whip, but’s let’s not get into that.

What have we here, then? Just another 4-cylinder Porsche? High-performance Beetle? A lot more than that, once you get under the skin. What you’re feasting your eyes upon right now, is the 914/8, a poorly received special edition, which came about via the conception of an entry-level, underpowered sports car and a Le Mans racecar. A jet-powered jellybean on bicycle tyres. A deathtrap. You may call it one of these things, but I, personally, call it a masterpiece.

Alongside the four ovals’ other torque monsters (Q7 V12, SQ7 for example) lies a black horse of sorts. A Frankenstein-like creation born of diesel and power. What do we get when we take one of the most torquey engines ever, which also happens to be the only diesel V12 ever fitted to a production car, and shoehorn it into the same company’s finest road-going offering? Why, we get the 2008 R8 TDi. A contradictory mish-mash of chassis-twisting grunt and high-strung, no limits supercar. What’s the reason for this thing existing?

Since the ‘60s, small cars had taken off. The ‘59-born Austin Mini was a worldwide phenomenon, and no matter how hard rivalling organisations tried to improve on the cheeky little thing’s design, none could match its practicality whilst retaining the effortless, cute appearance of the Mini. Issigonis’ creation had a range of 4-cylinder engines ranging from 850cc up to 1275, with the famous Cooper sporting version receiving firepower from a 55HP 997cc unit, which was truthfully just a standard 34HP 850 with a longer stroke.

The late ‘70s wasn’t a great period for the American automotive industry. As the story (which you’ve probably heard a trillion times) goes, the oil crisis presented a need for more economical cars. The American marques had no interest in economy up until this time, caring about performance mostly, though Japanese and European manufacturers started importing, stealing all the sales from the domestics. In order to keep up, Cars like the Mustang and Camaro suffered dearly, with the most powerful factory Camaro (for example) for sale in 1979 having little over 200HP.

(Yes, I know, another silly Mercedes MPV. I promise, this is the last one.) So, you have a bunch of 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated V8s lying around. What could you possibly do with them? Build a fantastic sports saloon to give M3s and RS4s a run for their money? Done. Stick some in a small 2-door coupé to provide for lots of sideways antics and slight chance of snappy-twitchy-into-treeyness? Check. Make a flagship luxury GT car with an appetite for tyres? Way ahead of you. What else could you possibly do? SUV? Already done. What on Earth else could you concoct?