For those of you who have been able to get to a major auto show, you know there is nothing quite like the feeling of seeing the front view of the latest supercar, muscle car or whatever your taste may be. You stand behind the designated ropes; pretend you’re not staring at the car babes. The spinning display turns that monster of a machine front and center. Suddenly, you are face to face with a pinnacle of modern engineering giving you the feeling that you are in the presence of something almost other worldly. Here is a collection of front views that captures a similar emotion.

It appears the Nissan GT-R is selling quite well in France. So the Japanese carmaker has decided to roll out a limited edition model to keep up the momentum. Dubbed the GT-R Gentleman Edition, the series will be limited to just ten units, available at Nissan’s High Performance Centers in France and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg).Available exclusively in Grey Squale, the limited-edition model is based on the Black Edition and comes with unique amber red hand-stitched leather interior and a bespoke sunglasses case.

It also features specific badging on the front fenders, and a numbered titanium plaque starting with 001/010. No changes were made to the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6, which continues to churn out 542 horsepower.The Nissan GT-R Gentleman Edition is available now priced at 97,900 Euros.

This week’s Drag Race Tuesday is an all-American affair. Taking to the drag strip is a 2008 Shelby Mustang GT500 with its 5.4-liter supercharged V8 turned up to 650 horsepower and a 2013 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe equipped with a stock 6.2-liter LSA engine rated at 556 hp.The Stang is riding on drag radials, while the Caddy is burning stock Michelin Pilot Sports tires. Both come flying off the blocks, hitting the quarter mile in around 12 seconds at a speed in the region of 120 mph.

It’s a closely fought contest, nonetheless there’s a clear winner. So who’s your money on? Stock Caddy or tuned Shelby?

What car would you choose to keep you safe and moving through the apocalypse? An SUV, maybe? Or a muscle car? Something with rough-and-tumble reliability, go-anywhere capabilities and sufficiently simple mechanical bits to keep it running no matter what.Dodge wants you to believe that’s the Charger. The Chrysler division has partnered with the SyFy channel to place its four-door sedan in the new show “Defiance�. The car was shown in survivor spec at the Chicago Auto Show.

The trailer below shows the Charger escaping imminent doom in the near future and motoring through decades of mayhem until 2046 when the show is set. Do you think a modern Charger can last that long through such adverse (albeit fictional) circumstances?

Words like "sporty", "curvaceous"� or "iconic" aren’t usually used to describe anything made by Volvo. The Swedes build excellent cars, but they tend to stay away from the sexier niches. That’s fine, really, soccer moms are a very real market force and someone needs to build cars for them.But in the Sixties, Volvo built an incredibly cool little sports coupe, which was in turn given a huge image boost when it was chosen as the primary vehicle for the TV show "The Saint".

The Saint was a British TV show which first aired in 1962, although the character of Simon Templar had existed in a series of books dating back to the Twenties. The similarities between Templar and James Bond have been noted, and in an early episode of the show, another character mistakes Templar for Bond. The show debuted the same year as the first Bond film (Dr. No), and for a time, the character of Simon Templar was serious competition for Bond in cool points. In fact, Roger Moore, the actor who played Templar, was twice offered the role of Bond during the show’s run, and although he would have to turn down these offers, he would eventually take over the role once his TV obligations were over.

The first proper Volvo sports car was built in 1956 and was inspired by the Chevrolet Corvette. This was the P1900, a fiberglass-bodied sports car intended to be a halo model for the sober Swedes.But its performance was no match for the Corvette, and neither did it manage to attract as much attention as the many and hugely popular British sports cars hitting the market at the time. So the P1900 ended up being a dismal failure, with just 68 units sold. But Volvo didn’t want to give up, recognizing that a bit more power and a better-looking body would go a long way.

A prototype of the new car which would become the P1800 was first built in 1957, just after the demise of the P1900. Volvo had initially hoped to produce the car in Germany with the help of Karmann. But when Volkswagen, by far Karmann’s biggest contract, got wind of this, it threatened to take all of its Karmann business elsewhere, fearing the possible competition from Volvo. So the production debut of the P1800 was delayed while Volvo looked for a new partner to handle production, eventually signing a deal with Jensen in the UK. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the debut would end up being perfectly timed to coincide with the debut of The Saint.

The car was first shown at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, alongside the also-new Jaguar E-Type. It was at this show where the producers of the upcoming Saint TV show approached Jaguar about using an E-Type for the show. Jaguar turned them down, having seen the huge amount of attention heaped on the E-Type, the thinking was that car just didn’t need the help.When Volvo was approached next, the company remembered the failure of the P1900 and agreed to provide two cars for use in the show. But in truth, the P1800 wasn’t all that special. It produced just 100 horsepower at first, later increased to 130.

It was attractive, but would struggle to be noticed next to an E-Type. This didn’t matter though: Simon Templar drove one, and the coolness it brought helped bring sales to total more than 47,000 units by the end of production in 1973.

Considering the appalling sales of the P1900 and the fact that sports cars aren’t really Volvo’s thing anyway, this is an almost shockingly high number. There is a lot to like about the P1800, but fortunately, luck was also on its side.Here's hoping that recent rumors of a potential revival (at least in spirit) under consideration at Volvo headquarters will lead to fruition.

With its engine mass located all the way in the back, the Porsche 911 is one of the most nimble cars on the road or track. But to create the latest GT3, Porsche developed a raft of new technologies that make the whole package handle that much better.Chief among them is the new four-wheel steering system that varies according to speed: at low speeds, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction from the front to minimize the turning circle. But at higher speeds, they all turn in the same direction to assist with lane changes.

Coupled with active engine mounts and torque vectoring, the rear-wheel steering system helps the 475-horsepower GT3 out-maneuver cars that cost significantly more and pack more power. Check out the highlights in the video below.

Early last month, it was announced that the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 which starred as "Eleanor" in the Nicolas Cage film "Gone in 60 Seconds", was hitting the auction block. Since it was not a stunt car used in the 2000 blockbuster but was instead the "Hero" car used for all close-up shots and promotional events, it was expected to fetch quite a pretty penny.And that it did. The 400-horsepower V8-powered beauty was sold last week at the Dana Mecum 26th Original Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis for a cool $1.1 million.

It was built specifically for the movie by Cinema Vehicle Services and Chip Foose. In addition to the V8 crate engine, other features include a four-speed manual gearbox, power steering and brakes, a lowered suspension, custom body kit, 17" rims wrapped in Goodyear F1 tires and a fire extinguisher.There’s also the Go-Baby-Go shift-knob button for the fictitious nitrous-injection system it doesn't actually have. Sure, there are plenty of Eleanor replicas out there but only its new and obviously wealthy owner can claim bragging rights to having the real deal.

The Bailey Blade has been a long time in the making. In fact we first reported on it way back in 2010 (albeit the last day therein), and by then it was already well along the planning stage. But now the project is nearing completion, and should be ready to be unveiled at the SEMA show in five months from now.The Bailey Blade XTR is the brainchild of one Neal Bailey and his company BXR Motors. The design calls for a front-engined super-GT with carbon-Kevlar bodywork over a steel/composite chassis.

A 5.0-liter forced-induction V8 (with either a supercharger or twin turbochargers) is expected to propel it to a projected 3.2-second 0-60 time. Active aerodynamics should also help optimize both cornering and straight-line speed. The following 15-minute clip is the 87th in Bailey's popular video series.

Every year hundreds of Mini owners and fans get together for the International Mini Meeting. The gatherings have been happening every year since 1978, each time at a different location, and this past weekend they descended upon the Italian province of Mugello, near the racetrack of the same name and just north of Florence.The meet-up brought together Minis old and new, including those made by Morris, Austin, BMW and even Innocenti, which made the original in Italy under contract from 1965.

Following a successful run in a modified Chevrolet Silverado, the guys over at That Racing Channel invited fan-favorite Jelacy Ramirez back for a run in another overpowered car. This time the honor went to a 900-hp Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX that was more than capable of causing the pretty pint-sized pouter to showcase her prized assets.After all, the same car has already given a pair of bikini-clad girls the ride of their lives and has also shown someone’s mom a good time.

If you like what you see then you’re in luck. TRC claims to have taken Jelacy for a few more rides, which we will do our utmost to share once they go live. In the meantime, enjoy the clip below.