IconCar Editorial

Bugatti EB110: The Supercar That Was Ahead of Its Time

The Bugatti EB110 arrived in 1991 with four turbochargers, all-wheel drive and a carbon-fibre tub, technology its famous rivals would not match for years. Romano Artioli's revival of Bugatti built only about 134 before going bankrupt in 1995. Michael Schumacher bought one. Today it is a rising blue-chip that bridges the prewar marque and the Veyron.

Lamborghini Diablo: The Last Analog Lamborghini

The Lamborghini Diablo was the first Lamborghini to pass 200 mph and the last with pop-up headlights. Marcello Gandini designed it, Chrysler softened it against his wishes, and it became the final raw, analog Lamborghini before Audi's clinical era. Now the best examples are passing two million dollars.

Jaguar XJ220: The Fastest Car Nobody Wanted

In 1992 the Jaguar XJ220 was the fastest production car on earth, yet its buyers sued Jaguar and refused to take delivery. Promised a V12, they got a V6; caught by a recession, they walked. The car once dumped for a quarter of its price is now the cheapest way into the 1990s analog-supercar club, and climbing.

Ferrari F50: The Closest a Road Car Came to Formula 1

The Ferrari F50 took the V12 that powered Alain Prost's 1990 Formula 1 car, enlarged it, and bolted it into a carbon-fibre road car with no turbos and no driver aids. Ferrari built just 349, one fewer than it could sell, and the car once dismissed as a flop now outvalues the F40 it followed.

The Chevrolet Malibu Began as a Trophy and Died a Commodity

In November 2024 Chevrolet built its last Malibu and its last sedan. The name began in 1964 at the top of the range, on a muscle car now worth six figures, and ended on a fleet car that loses half its value in five years. Same badge, opposite fates, and the whole lesson of collecting in one nameplate.

Ferrari Luce: Why the First Electric Ferrari Sold for $40 Million

Ferrari's first electric car, the Luce, drew criticism and an 8.4% share-price drop when it launched at 550,000 euros. Yet the very first example sold for 40 million dollars at a Monterey charity auction, a record for any new car. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story.

Porsche 959: The Car That Invented the Modern Supercar

In 1986 the Porsche 959 arrived with computer-controlled all-wheel drive, sequential turbos and the world's first tyre-pressure monitor, and it was the fastest car on earth. It was built to go rallying in a category banned before it reached customers, it lost Porsche money on every sale, and today it is a blue-chip collectible worth well over a million pounds.

McLaren F1 GTR: The Racer McLaren Never Planned to Build

In 1995 a road car that was never meant to race won the Le Mans 24 Hours outright, beating purpose-built prototypes. The McLaren F1 GTR did it with less power than the road F1, and today the rarest examples are worth more than any road car McLaren has sold.

Do Blue-Chip Classics Survive the End of Petrol?

Petrol bans are coming, but they hit only new-car sales, and they are quietly splitting the classic market in two. Trophy blue-chips are pulling away from ordinary classics, and the gap has never been wider.

Restore or Preserve? The Collector's Dilemma

The hardest decision in collecting isn't which car to buy but whether to restore it — and increasingly the answer is don't. A car is only original once, and the market now pays a premium for honest, unrestored survivors.

Lancia Stratos: The First Car Built to Win Rallies

The Lancia Stratos was the first car ever built purely to win rallies — a Gandini wedge with a mid-mounted Ferrari V6 that won three world championships in a row (1974–1976). Only about 492 were made.

Bentley R-Type Continental: The Fastest Four-Seater

The Bentley R-Type Continental was the fastest four-seater in the world in 1952 — a coachbuilt aluminium fastback and the most expensive car money could buy. Only about 208 were made. Quiet luxury before the term existed.