Class Leaders car

Hypercars

Bugatti Veyron The greatest supercar of all time, bar none. The Veyron is in a different league to all that came before it. Other worldly performance (read 1000bhp, 253mph and 0-60mph in 2.4 sec) is coupled to outstanding handling and peerless engineering, all wrapped up in a civilised (but some say sanitised) package. Bad points? A bit on the porky side and  the small matter of a  £1 million price tag! With SSC having taken the top speed title, look out for the Veyron R.

Ferrari 599 The most desirable Ferrari in decades has near Enzo performance but with continent crushing GT capabilities.   McLaren F1 Incredible achievement with normally aspirated V12 and a lightweight body. They don't make them like this anymore! Koenigsegg CCXR Not for the feint of heart! Mammoth performance but can be unforgiving when pushed. A Lamborghini on steroids. Pagani Zonda F Right up there with the best of the established marques. Pricey but rewarding in almost every department. Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Huge performance and huge presence but with huge running costs! Old school supercar charm now in a reliable package. Porsche Carrera GT Gone but certainly not forgotten. Not the friendliest of controls but possessed epic cross country ability.

Supercars

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 Now producing over 560bhp from a brand new V10, the latest, fastest incarnation of the Gallardo is just about the most desirable supercar on the planet at any price. Performance is naturally stratospheric with 60mph arriving in under 4 seconds on it's way to a 200mph+ top speed, while styling has been successfully tweaked with a more aggressive front end splitter. A little pricey at £150k but absolutely worth it!

Audi R8 The must have supercar of the moment. Universally acclaimed for it's looks, handling and quality. Faster one soon?   Mercedes SL63 AMG Not sure about the facelift but for power and performance (and the cachet of an sliding metal roof) there's few better. Ferrari F430 Scuderia With pin sharp handling, laps as fast as an Enzo for a fraction of the price. More aggressive styling works well. Nissan GTR Taken the world by storm! Scintillating pace and dynamics make for the ultimate fast road car. It's even a looker now! Ford GT Hugely successful reinvention of the Le Mans legend. Gorgeous looks and massive power. Unfortunately LHD only. Porsche 997 GT3 RS The best 911 to date. Standard GT3 is better value but the RS is the car of choice for trackday work.

Sportscars

Porsche Cayman S The Cayman S offers 90% of the performance of big brother 911, matches it for pure drivability, and to many observers, beats it for looks. Based on the Boxster S, but with a power increase to 291bhp, the Cayman is without doubt the class leader for driving pleasure, and comes in at a very competitive price too. Whether it's worth the extra over the standard Cayman is debatable though. Final thought. Look out Porsche, the opposition are catching up!

BMW Z4M Coupe Not the world beater we all hoped for, but a good looking coupe or cabriolet with the cachet of the famous 'M' badge.   Lotus Elise S2 Back to basics sports car with communicative lightweight chassis. Go for the more powerful derivatives. Farbio GTS Relative newcomers have hit the ground running with a stylish, fast coupe at a reasonable price. Mercedes SLK55 AMG Capable coupe/cabriolet with fettling from AMG division. Not a class leader but attractive and desirable nonetheless. Jaguar XKR New XKR is smooth and refined but also packs a powerful punch when the mood takes you. Poor resale values as usual. Tesla Roadster Probably the future of sports cars. Quick charging electric motor that's eerily silent and Elise fast. Shame about the price.

Super Saloons

Mercedes CLS63 AMG Now fitted with AMG's mighty 6.3L V8, the new CLS hits all the right buttons. Always a good looking car, with it's saloon/coupe hybrid styling, interior comfort and ambience have been further improved, while performance is now more than a match for its rivals. De-limited, a genuine 200mph is on the cards. Quality and reliability (a real issue for Mercedes of late) are now getting back to their legendary standards of old.

Audi RS6 Have joined Mercedes in the 'just how much power can we squeeze into this' ethos. Actually a superb motor car.   Chrysler 300C Something a little different that oozes cool and has decent straight line performance. Bentley style grille is a must. Bentley Continental Flying Spur Refined, gadget laden and above all mega-fast motoring for five. Styling not to everyone's taste. Jaguar S-Type R Replaced by the XF but remains a fast, refined and good looking saloon, with surprisingly neat handling. BMW M5 Legendary saloon gets better and better. Rapid 500bhp progress with handling that belies it's size. Vauxhall VXR8 Raw super saloon that offers similar pace and comfort to it's rivals but at a fraction of the price. Has undeserved low rent image.

Hot Hatches

Nissan 350Z Now in it's second generation, the superb 350Z manages to combine good looks, rapid performance and pure driving thrills all into a single great value package. The 3.5 litre V6 now pushes out 313bhp for sub 6 sec 0-60mph sprints. But if you really want to create the ultimate 350, go for the optional Nismo styling pack, expensive but worth it. Stop press! Don't get your cheque book out yet, instead look out for the new 370Z over the next few months.

Audi TT Better steering, better handling and more performance that it's predecessor but without the impact and looks.   Mitsubishi Evo X Latest version of the rally favourite has even better handling and pace but loses the character of previous incarnations. Ford Focus ST Great drivers car from what is essentially a family hatchback. Practical, fun and cheap to run. Wait for the Cosworth? Subaru Impreza WRX Sti Legendary sports saloon offers rally thrills to the masses. Never good looking but latest version is bit of a dog. Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The grand daddy of serious hot hatches. Performance matched the supercars of it's day. Try finding a straight one! Vauxhall Astra VXR Fast, front wheel drive thrills. Good looking and with decent performance. Suffers from undeserved Max Power image.

Track Specials

Caparo T1 Some say that the Caparo is not a road car. Well, it may be pushing the boundaries but it is nevertheless road legal and therefore worthy of it's place as the fastest track special of all time. Indeed, 'fast' really doesn't do it justice. For straight lines, how about 0-100mph in 5 sec then back to 0 again 3.5 sec later. 3g round the corners helps too. Ridiculously impractical and quite expensive but the ultimate thrill. The definitive 'race car for the road'.

Ariel Atom 3 The nearest you'll get to a motorbike with four wheels. Stupendously fast and a real stand out from the crowd.   Lotus 2Eleven Excellent trackday tool. Good looks, handling and reasonably priced. Could make the Exige redundant. Caterham R500 Now sporting Ford engines, the new R500 is faster than ever. Adrenalin high but pointless on the public road. Radical SR4 Trackday King. Looks awesome and laps faster than anything bar the Caparo (which is incidentally £100k dearer). KTM X-Bow Crowd drawing appeal with bonkers performance but not quite lived up to expectations. Joke price with options. Ultima GTR 720 Veyron fast for a tenth of the price. Dispels the unfair poor quality reputation of kit cars. Made for the track not the road.

SUVs

BMW X6M The future of the SUV? Downsizing seems to be the watch word in SUVs these days and BMW have taken that a step further with their SUV/Coupe combo the X6. Offered with the 4.4L V8 from the M3, the X6 all but matches it for performance with class leading dynamics thanks to it's reduced size. The gadgets and the comfort are still there but now with reasonable fuel economy. If you must buy an SUV then buy one of these.

Audi Q7 V12 Huge torque (738lb/ft), huge weight (2600Kg) and huge price (£96000). Safe to say, it's huge.     Lamborghini LM002 The grand daddy of super SUVs makes even the Hummer seem tame. Countach engine without the performance!   Porsche Cayenne Turbo Ugly but a good drive despite it's 2.5 ton bulk. Cachet of Porsche name but still not safe from green revolution.    Mercedes ML63 AMG AMG 6.3L V8 pushes out 500bhp for a sub 5 sec 0-60mph sprint. Huge performance means huge consumption. Dodge Ram SRT-10 The Viper's 500bhp V10 has been dropped into a pick up truck. May work in the USA but not for England.   Overfinch Supersport Renowned Range Rover tuner offers bespoke engine, bodywork and interior upgrades. Ostentatious?

Classics

Ferrari 250 GTO .... All classic Ferrari's are desirable (we won't mention the Dino GT4) but undoubtedly the 250GTO is the most desirable of all. Just 39 were built, which goes some way to explaining the monumental sums of money these cars can fetch. It is rumoured that one changed hands for somewhere near £7 million in the heyday of the early 1990s. Performance and handling are from a bygone era but you can't put a price on provenance. Well you can actually, it's £7m !

AC Cobra 427 Performance icon from the 60's married huge 7 litre V8 into lightweight sports car body. Handles like a brick.   Jaguar E-Type Startled the world when launched in the 60's. Never as fast as claimed but achingly desirable for the last 40 years. Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Genuine ones are a rare commodity. A highly desirable classic. Try to forget the nfortunate link with Miami Vice. Lamborghini Countach Qv The definitive supercar. Sleek concept sprouted scoops and wings but still looked the business. Not the easiest to drive. Ford GT40 Road legal version of the legendary Le Mans racer. Hugely desirable and fast even today. Spawned the kit car industry! Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Most people pick as the first genuine performance car. Startling at the time, still turns heads today.