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McLaren MP4-12C: The build begins +video

First McLaren MP4-12C being built You could be forgiven for thinking that McLaren had already started building their Ferrari 458 challenging car – the McLaren MP4-12C. After all, it’s been turning up all over the place for at least a year, and we even had a good view of the Volcano Orange MP4-12C from Goodwood as it passed us en-route to strut its stuff up the Goodwood Hillclimb last year. But the cars we’ve seen so far – even the Volcano Orange MP4-12C from Goodwood – were prototypes; McLaren’s running test beds for tweaking and refining the MP4-12C before the first cars reach customers this year.

1970s supercars

By Tim Pollard and Ben Oliver 10 July 2008 16:02 Supercars in the Seventies Lamborghini continued to define the supercar in the ’70s, building on the success of the dramatic Miura with the brutal and startling silhouette of the Countach. But Lambo’s nemesis Ferrari was never far behind, and the two Italian thoroughbreds dominated the market, with a succession of beautiful supercars throughout the decade. Despite the threat of the global oil crisis, the Germans started to muscle in on supercar territory with the rare BMW M1 and Porsche's upstart sports car, the 911 Turbo.Browse our GBU-style pick of the decade's landmarks below – and vote for your favourite supercar decade in our poll Make and model Year Price Engine 0-60mph Top speed 1973  £14,610   4390cc flat 12, 360bhp, 311lb ft   5.4sec  175mph For   Pininfarina's styling set the look for Ferraris until well  into the 1980s   Against   Ferrari's answer to the Miura arrived seven years late Verdict   A seminal Ferrari for styling and engineering, too often overlooked   Ferrari's first mid-engined V12 was good enough to stay in production for nine years, bridging the huge gap between the Sixties Daytona and the Testarossa of the Eighties Related Articles:    Other Ferrari stories    Make and model Year Price Engine 0-60mph Top speed Porsche 911 Turbo  1974 £14,749 2994cc flat six, 260bhp, 253lb ft 6.0sec 155mph For   The car that took the 911 into supercar territory; a legend was born Against   Everything you've heard about the handling of early cars is an  understatement.

Skoda Fabia vRS (2010) at Geneva motor show

This is the new Skoda Fabia vRS, unveiled at the VW Group’s pre-Geneva party. And unlike the last vRS, this one isn’t diesel. Yes, and under the bonnet is the same 178bhp Twincharger (supercharged and turbocharged) 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine that you’ll find in the new VW Polo GTI and Seat Ibiza Cupra.