Aston Martin One-77

Sneaky Paris reveal gives us a hint of what Aston has in store

We've already seen murky pictures of the million pound Aston Martin, but now the company is wheeling out the real thing - albeit with an inconvenient sheet across most of it.

This is our first glimpse at the One-77, although the idea is that those wealthy enough to buy one will be able to tweak and specify a lot of the car themselves - meaning the slight bits of car we see here may not be standard items, or they could be the base that customers have to work with.

It has also been confirmed the One-77 has a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis, handcrafted aluminium body and a stonking 7.3-litre V12 under the bonnet. 'Exhilarating performance' is promised by Aston in 'the ultimate creative interpretation of the renowned British marque'. Consider us teased. Are you? And would you splash out the best part of a big lottery win solely on a car? Wing your way to the forum and reveal all.

Volvo S80 HPC

A Volvo S80 about to embark on some laps of a race track? Fish out of water? Well this S80 High Performance Concept has evolved a bit. It’s got four-wheel drive, new sports suspension, racing brakes and 345bhp. It’s also the first model to come from tuner Heico Sportiv to be endorsed by the Volvo Car Corporation, so it stands a fair to middling chance of becoming a production reality too.

Much of Heico’s time was spent nurturing the relationship between a pre-production four-wheel-drive system and its own ECU, but, with help from Bilstein, the firm has also developed new suspension that enables the car to sit 40mm lower on its 255/30-shod 20in wheels.

This has the desired effect of reducing roll in corners and further improving the car’s sure-footedness, but it still feels more like a quick saloon than a sporting one. In auto mode the gearbox doesn’t hold ratios long enough to exploit the increased torque, and the steering – an S80 weak point – is lifeless.

Heico was adamant that this car should maintain its ‘Volvo-ness’. It’s certainly achieved that. But in this concept a little too much so.