This coming Friday, the fourth episode of The Grand Tour's second season will premiere on Amazon Prime and it looks set to be the perfect way to conclude 2017.

The feature film of the episode will see Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May driving the Audi TT RS, Ariel Nomad, and an old Lada in Croatia, engaging in a series of challenges in the process. The idea behind the segment will be to see what the show was like if it was unscripted.

Fans of high-performance cars will be pleased to hear that ep 4 will also feature one of the fastest cars currently on sale, the McLaren 720S.

Fitted with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, the 720S delivers roughly 700 hp at the rear wheels and has proven itself to be as fast as some hybrid hypercars. Despite his recent leg injury, Richard Hammond will be piloting the new McLaren at the show's Eboladrome where it's sure to set a blistering lap time.

Last but not least will be Celebrity Face Off, featuring classical singers Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.

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It had a good run, but today's LMP1 class is all but completely dead – killed by a gradual bleeding of its vital participating manufacturers. It's time, in short, for the FIA and ACO to rethink of what the top tier at Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship should be composed. And looking at these renderings, we're convinced that the latest crop of hypercars would be just the ticket.

Illustrated by Marco van Overbeeke and shared both on Behance and Drivetribe, these images show what the most extreme road cars would look like if converted to a revived GT1 specification.

GT1, for those who don't recall, was a more extreme class of (barely) road-derived racers that formed both the top tier at Le Mans in the late 1990s and the backbone of the successive FIA championships from 1993 through 2012. It yielded such legendary cars as the Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes CLK GTR, McLaren F1 GTR, Maserati MC12, and Aston Martin DBR9 – each world-beating champions in their own right, casting a long shadow even over the LMP1 prototypes and GTE racers that have taken their place at either end.

It would take a special breed of machinery to revive their spirit, but these race-converted hypercars could do just the trick – encouraging the most exotic automakers to showcase their machinery, and giving fans something more tangible to root for.

Overbeeke's conceptual lineup includes race-converted versions of the Mercedes-AMG Project One, McLaren Senna, Aston Martin Valkyrie, Porsche 918, Koenigsegg Agera RS, and Ferrari FXX-K Evo. Who knows, maybe Bugatti could be tempted to take part as well with a competition-spec Chiron (looking like its Vision Gran Turismo concept), and Toyota to shift its program based on the LMP1-inspired supercar concept it has coming. It'd make a fitting opportunity for Lamborghini too, if the costs could be kept low enough for the VW group to justify multiple programs (like it did with Porsche and Audi until recently). What do you say, racing fans?

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Want a big SUV but don't need the third row of seats? No problem, say automakers, as they start offering their most accommodating crossovers with just two rows.

Alongside the expanded three-row RX L, Lexus unveiled a two-row version of the big LX at the LA Auto Show last month. Volvo offers a four-seat Excellence version of the XC90, too. And according to the latest report, Volkswagen will be next.

Having enlarged the latest Tiguan to accommodate an extra row of seating, and slotted the new seven-seat Atlas into its expanding crossover lineup, VW is planning to roll out five-seat versions of both.

"We decided the Atlas will get a slightly lower-positioned five-seater, with nice, coupe-ish styling, [but the] same dimensions," Volkswagen Group of America CEO Hinrich Woebcken told Automotive News.

The Tiguan, however, will "get kind of a little smaller" in its next iteration, ostensibly bridging the gap between the previous model and the new one.

The new models should help Volkswagen further enlarge its crossover portfolio without developing completely new models, while offering buyers a more comprehensive range of choices.

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The IROC name may be closer associated with the Chevy Camaro, but it was the Pontiac Trans Am that actually served as the backbone of the series in its latter years until its demise over a decade ago.

After it went belly-up in 2007, the organizers of the series sold off all the assets – including the cars. Several of those wound up in the vaunted collection of Michael Fux. Now they're coming up for auction, providing the rare opportunity to restart the action – this time as a vintage racing series.

Not to be confused with the (truly international) Race of Champions that takes place at the end of each racing season at shifting locations around the world, the so-called International Race of Champions was primarily targeted at drivers and fans of American oval-track racing.

It started back in 1974, when Mark Donohue won the title in a Porsche Carrera RSR – his last victory before perishing in a Formula One crash in Austria the next year. After that, it switched to all-American machinery: Camaros for twelve years, then Dodge Daytonas and Avengers for six, before moving on in 1996 to the Pontiacs you see here for the last eleven.

Based on the road-going Firebird, the IROC Trans Ams were stripped out and fitted with competition-spec V8 engines capable of producing as much as 500 horsepower, with four-speed transmissions, Penske shocks, Brembo carbon brakes, and big fat Goodyear Eagle slick radials.

Each driver piloted identical machinery, and it attracted some big names: Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, AJ Foyt, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Helio Castroneves, and Sebastien Bourdais all participated at one time or another. These five were driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Martrin Truex Jr, with the fifth example mostly used as a test car.

Mecum will auction off all five, along with a spare engine, in Florida on Friday, January 5. Those hoping to snag the entire grid will be able to bid on the first one, and if they win (and so choose), have that same sale price applied to the others as well. So if you're interested in starting your own vintage racing series based on 20+year-old cars, better head to Kissimmee next week. And bring your checkbook, because each is valued at about $45k, and another $7,500 for the spare engine... adding up to an overall pre-sale estimate of over $230k for the whole lot.

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Volkswagen recently admitted that the Tesla Model S effectively killed off all plans for a next-generation Phaeton. However, this isn't to say that the original Phaeton wasn't a rather special car.

To discover if the original was really the Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival which Volkswagen once said it was, Doug DeMuro landed a drive in the car, exploring all of its intriguing features.

Volkswagen first launched the Phaeton back in 2002 as a full-size sedan that aimed to tackle the best of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. No less than six different engines were sold at various stages during the vehicle's production run, the most remarkable of which was a 6.0-liter W12 that delivered 444 hp at 6500 rpm and 413 lb-ft of torque between 2750 and 5200 rpm.

Of course, to rival the S-Class, VW had to do more than offer customers a plethora of powertrains to choose from. For example, the interior is laden with quirks that make the Phaeton unlike any other car to hit the road, including digital dials to adjust how much air comes out of each and every vent.

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Did you find that 222-mph (358km/h)  Toyota Supra V12 we recently told you about was cool? Well, take a moment to digest this, a 262-mph Nissan 300ZX, also set to be sold by BH Auction in January.

Officially dubbed the 1991 Jun Bonneville 300ZX 'Z32', this extensively-modified Japanese sports car reached a top speed of 261.923 mph (421.536 km/h) at the Bonneville Speed Week.

To achieve a Bugatti Veyron-beating top speed, this 300ZX has undergone a series of significant modifications. For starters, the engine has been overhauled and thanks to a huge turbocharger and supporting mods, delivers around 985 hp. There's also a huge surge tank and a custom front-end designed to allow the car to cut through the air at high speeds.

Inside, the cabin remains fairly standard but does include a roll cage, racing steering wheel, numerous gauges, and half a dozen custom switches and buttons on the dash.

The auction house expects the car to sell for between 8 million yen ($70,560) and 11 million yen ($97,020).

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While just about anybody can do a fairly good job at cleaning their cars, actually detailing it to the point where it looks as if it has just left the factory is a whole different story.

Now, thanks to AMMO NYC, we have their so-called 'Master Guide' helping us out, which can be broken down into four categories: Core (Why), Sequence (Where), Methods (How) and, finally, the Rules.

For example, the Core (your reasoning) can be either to clean, correct or protect your vehicle. However, since this is a tutorial for beginners, it's more focused on how to clean and protect your ride rather than correct any cosmetic imperfections or damages.

In the Sequence phase, the tutorial covers all areas that might require intervention, such as the paint job, the interior, the wheels, the glass and even the engine. Then you've got your Methods, which instructs you how to wash, rinse and dry your vehicle, or specific parts.

All in all, this is a very in-depth tutorial, hence its one and a half hour length. But if you want to get really good at detailing your car, we suggest you clear your schedule and watch the whole thing.

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If you live somewhere where it gets cold but rarely, if ever, snows, should you still swap out your summer or all-season tires for some winter rubber?

According to Engineering Explained, you might simply be better off utilizing your regular tires, especially if you're focusing on stopping distance when braking for an emergency.

This experiment was carried out in freezing temperatures (between 24 F / - 4 C and 26 F / - 3 C), and with three braking tests apiece, it was the summer tires that stopped in a considerably shorter distance.

Their best result was 127.1 feet (38.7 meters), while the winter tires only managed 156.7 feet (47.8 meters), and yes, that's is a disturbingly big difference.

Now, we should point out that the conditions for this test were very specific (outside temp, road surface, tire width) and that the tread pattern you get on winter tires will prove useful more often than not, as roads can get slippery even if there's no snow or ice around.

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Yes, it is that time of year already, the one when Santa comes to town or, to be more realistic, to wish one another joy, love and peace in tune with the Christmas spirit!

It is also a time that is best spent with your family and/or your loved ones, exchange gifts, share the laughter and, why not, take some time off to relax at home or, perhaps, a holiday - whatever suits you the best, as long as you enjoy it.

It goes without sayin' that everyone in the Carscoops team wishes you, our readers, all the best for Christmas and the New Year that's just around the corner. We, for our part, will ease the throttle just a little bit this couple of days because, believe it or not, automotive journalists do have a personal life as well (most of them anyway...) and like to celebrate just like everyone else.

Nevertheless, we won't shut down completely and will still be online to bring you the latest news, so you might want to check this space that, pretty soon, will... OK, we'd better stop here, as we don't want to release any spoilers; let's just say that 2018 will be a year for some changes we've been working on for some time now and will, hopefully, make visiting Carscoops an even better experience.

Thus, once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday from us all. Now, if you'll excuse us, there is a turkey begging for our attention, but you can check out 10 cool cars covered in Xmas lights rolling around in London in the video that follows.

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When you think of performance sedans, the BMW M5 is bound to be among the first that comes to mind. But the Bavarian super-sled is not a monolith that has remained constant over time in the same way as, say the Porsche 911.

While most versions of the M5 have been front-engine/rear-drive four-door sedans, there've been wagons as well, and the latest one comes with all-wheel drive. And that's before we even get to the powertrains.

We've seen M5s with six, eight, and even ten cylinders, turbocharged or naturally aspirated, with manual, automatic, and dual-clutch transmissions, and with outputs ranging from 286 horsepower all the way up to 600.

That's a heck of a transformation, and it's all chronicled (along with some interesting factoids for the truly obsessed) in the video below – not from Donut Media, but from the (relatively) new Cars Evolution channel.

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Given how things turned out between McLaren and Honda, you'd think the prospect of the two ever partnering again would be completely out of the question. But the team's executive director Zak Brown says otherwise.

"We are grateful to Honda," said Brown in a television interview with Sky Sports (as cited by The Drive). "They're a great company, with great people, and the relationship was always strong. The relationship still is strong."

"Wouldn't rule out racing with them again, wish them the best but we needed to make some tough decisions to do what's in our best interest." Seriously? "Oh of course, absolutely," confirmed Brown.

This after three years of frustrations that saw McLaren saddled by an underperforming and unreliable Honda engine package that's largely blamed for the team's poor performance. In fact, these past three seasons have been the worst in McLaren's history since the late 1970s and early 1980s, before (now ousted chairman) Ron Dennis took over and ushered the team into the second most accomplished in the Formula One record books.

That includes a previous partnership in the late 1980s and early 90s that yielded four consecutive world championships with drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. Maybe it's those glory days to which Brown is looking back. But for now, McLaren's moving on to Renault power, leaving Honda to work out the kinks with Toro Rosso instead.

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We expect taxis to be clean and comfortable. We expect the drivers to be punctual and professional. We don't expect a lot of excitement from the ride, but that's just what a handful of passengers in Prague got recently.

Skoda dispatched five-time Czeck Rally Champion (and onetime European champ) Jan Kopecký in one of its Fabia R5 rally cars to pick up passengers at taxi stands around the city and take them for what will likely be the ride of their lives.

"Driving a ŠKODA FABIA R5 through the city of Prague really was an unique experience," said Kopecký. "Luckily nobody got stomach problems. Nevertheless I was well prepared having sickness bags in ŠKODA colours on board," he laughed.

In lieu of cab fare, each of the 23 passengers was tasked with reading Kopecký the pace notes and operating the wipers so they could experience what it's like to be a rally co-driver.

It was a fitting year-end celebration for the Czech manufacturer that won both the national championship and the WRC2 category for the third time running, making the Fabia R5 the undisputed king of its class.

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Automakers and regulators issue recalls large and small on a regular basis. But when one campaign affects millions of vehicles, the automotive press takes notice. And that's just what we have on our hands here.

The latest recall from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles encompasses some 1.8 million Ram trucks – most of them in the United States – due to another rollaway risk.

The problem affects certain 2009-17 models, but only those with column shifters – not console-mounted rotary dial or floor-mounted shifters. Apparently the brake transmission shift interlock mechanism may not hold up well to prolonged exposure to high temperatures, so when the vehicle is left in Park, it could still roll away.

According to information from FCA cited by Automotive News, that's led to seven "potentially related injuries and a small number of potentially related accidents."

The recall affects nearly 1.5 million vehicles in the United States and almost 250,000 in Canada, with the remaining 50,000 or so vehicles in other markets around the world.

Rollaways appear to be amount to something of a chronic problem for FCA, which announced in April 2016 the recall of over a million of its vehicles for a similar problem after actor Anton Yelchin (of Star Trek fame) was killed when his own Jeep Grand Cherokee ran him over. The NHTSA launched an investigation into another million-plus FCA vehicles for a rollaway risk a year ago. And this past July, the automaker initiated the recall of still more vehicles over a related issue.

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Ferrari and Pininfarina have teamed up on some achingly beautiful cars over the years. We've come across more than a few notable examples coming up for auction – but few as gorgeous as this one right here.

It's a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series I Cabriolet – the very one that the Prancing Horse marque displayed at the Turin and New York auto shows in 1958 and '59.

The cabrio was purchased virtually right off the show stand by Prince Mohammed bin Faisal of the Saudi royal family, who drove it while studying in California in his youth.

For over four decades, it was in the hands of noted collector John Clinard, who had it restored to its original color scheme: a light greenish silver called Grigio Conchiglia (seashell grey) over red leather that might look more at home on, say, an Aston Martin, but catches the eye pretty darn well, we'd say, on this classic Ferrari.

The 35th of only 41 examples made of the Series I cabriolet, chassis number 1079 GT is bound to be one of the highlights among the numerous notable Prancing Horses consigned to Gooding & Company for its upcoming sale in Scottsdale, Arizona, next month.

With pre-sale estimates placing its value between $7 and 8.5 million, it'll appear alongside a bright red 500 Mondial ($5-5.75m), a deeper red 250 Europa ($1.6-2m), and a later 250 GT Series II Cabriolet in black over red ($1.5-1.8m). Photos by Mathieu Heurtault and Mike Maez, courtesy of Gooding & Company.

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Between the luxed-out SVAutobiography models, the hardcore SVX off-roaders, the special projects, and the continuation classics, the folks over at Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations have been keeping plenty busy. We just can't help but wonder when the next performance-oriented SVR model will come out, and what it'll be based on.

To date, JLR SVO has only applied the go-fast SVR treatment to the F-Type and the Range Rover Sport. We know there'll be more to come, but we're glad to see (and bring to you) rendering artists like Nikita Aksyonov filling in the blanks.

These latest three projects by the Russian designer propose SVR versions of three Jaguar models: the XF, the XJ, and the E-Pace. And they all look pretty enticing.

As to which is more likely to actually roll out of a Jaguar factory, we're expecting the F-Pace SVR to come first. But after that, the XF seems the most probable. After all, the previous XF yielded the supremely capable XFR-S, and we've yet to see a high-output version of the new model to take on the likes of the BMW M5 and Mercedes-AMG E63. If and when we do, we wouldn't be surprised to see it looking a lot like this.

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With so much power and performance capability on tap, you'd expect to see Aston Martins moving quickly. But you hope that when they do, they're doing it on purpose.

That may not be the case, however, for a wide array of the British automaker's twelve-cylinder models, which are being recalled for a rollaway risk.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall notice for certain DB9, DBS, Virage, Vanquish, and Rapide models – specifically those equipped with the six-speed Touchtronic II automatic transmission, which may not engage the Park function properly. So if their drivers haven't applied the parking brake, they could roll away unexpectedly.

That could prove not only costly (given how much these vehicles typically sell for) but also rather dangerous. Fortunately, exotic as they are, the scope of the recall is relatively limited to just 3,493 vehicles (in the United States at least), and all they'll need is a Transmission Control Module software update.

In the meantime, if you are (otherwise) fortunate enough to own a twelve-cylinder Aston, better make sure you put on the parking brake before hopping out. And if you see one moving with no one behind the wheel, make sure to get out of the way.

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