New Vauxhall VXR8 GTS gets 576bhp & costs £54,999

The new Vauxhall VXR8 GTS gets 576bhp If you’re going to make your most potent saloon car more powerful, you could just tweak the engine management a bit to add a few more horses. But Vauxhall have gone a bit further with the latest VXR8 GTS – it gets a 6.2 litre V8 from the Camaro ZL1, a whole 150bhp and 140lb/ft of torque than the old VXR8. Vauxhall has based the GTS on Holden’s new GEN-F GTS – Australia’s maddest production Holden – and the increase in power comes courtesy of a supercharger, new exhaust system.

Maserati GranTurismo

Maserati has released photos of their new coupe, the GranTurismo, in advance of its unveiling at Geneva next week. Designed by Pininfarina, the sketches also circulating were by Jason Castriota who penned the Maserati Birdcage concept shown in Geneva in 2005, before it turned heads at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that year. There is affinity between the two designs, and a more aggressive look than the current car designed by ItalDesign.

David Brown Automotive Speedback revealed

All-new British sports car brand David Brown Automotive has revealed its first production GT car, the Speedback, prior to its world debut at the Top Marques Monaco event in April. The new Speedback is based on the Jaguar XKR and uses its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 motor to produce over 500hp. It’s been 18 months in development and has been engineered in Coventry – and will use hand-crafted bodywork produced in the automotive city, too.