BMW X5 V12 Le Mans: The Ultimate Spassmobil

The BMW X5 V12 Le Mans is one of those rare, wonderful moments when a carmaker momentarily forgets about accountants, regulations, and common sense, and instead asks a far more entertaining question: “What if we shoved a Le Mans–winning racing engine into an SUV?” When I saw the X5 Le Mans during my last visit to the Pace Museum by JP Performance in Dortmund, it felt almost unreal to be standing in front of something so unapologetically absurd.

Built around the turn of the millennium, the E53 X5 V12 Le Mans, was never intended as a production model. It was a one-off experiment, a celebratory engineering flex created after BMW’s 1999 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the V12 LMR prototype. To mark the occasion, a handful of BMW’s most mischievous engineers decided to repurpose the heart of the race-winner: a 6.0-litre naturally aspirated V12. But unlike the race car, which had to breathe through air restrictors, this engine was allowed to inhale freely. The result was more than 700 horsepower in an era when supercars were still struggling to reach that number.

That colossal engine sat inside the shell of the first-generation X5, but this was no ordinary family hauler. The suspension was heavily reworked, the interior stripped down and fitted with a roll cage, and the hood reshaped in carbon fibre to clear the V12’s intake system. It retained a six-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel-drive, making it perhaps the most spectacularly overpowered manual SUV ever created.

Three Rare Skylines at Ultrace Düsseldorf

At Ultrace, I saw these three incredible Nissan Skylines. Each one represented a different generation of GT-R history and they all belong to one owner. He was more than happy to share some knowledge and why these cars are so special.

The first car was a beautiful 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R (KPGC10) powered by the legendary S20 engine. Nissan built only a little over 1,900 of these cars. The car already sits on KW suspension and classic Watanabe wheels. As a result, it has that perfect old school JDM look.

legendary Opel Calibra V6 4×4 ITC from 1996

I have been photographing cars for more than twenty years. Because of that, I like to think I have seen it all. I photographed concept cars long before their public debut. I captured hypercars with million‑dollar price tags. Yet one car always escaped my lens. The Opel Calibra V6 4×4 from 1996. No matter where I went, I never timed it right. Until I finally saw it at Retroclassics last week.

Back in 1996, Opel reached the absolute peak of touring car racing. That year, the Calibra V6 4×4 did more than just compete. It dominated.

Volkswagen Scirocco Mk1 W8 4Motion Swap

The idea sounds a bit wild at first: a 1979 Volkswagen Scirocco with a W8 4Motion drivetrain from a much newer Passat. But once you see it in person, it all starts to make sense.

I spotted this car at the recent Retro Classics in Essen, Germany, and right away it stood out. Even among a line-up of factory fresh Scirocco’s, this one pulled you in.

To start with, the base is a first-gen Scirocco, light, simple, and never designed for all-wheel drive. Meanwhile, the donor car, a 2001 Passat W8, brings 275 hp and a completely different layout. So this isn’t just an engine swap; it’s a full transformation.

Track‑Ready BMW E36 With M4 S55 Power

Walking through the Tuning Experience hall at the Essen Motor Show, you expect to see wild builds, but every now and then something stops you dead in your tracks. Did you catch my take on this year’s event? If not, you can still check it out on the Turnpike Global site.

Among the wild show cars and slammed stances sat a machine that looked like it had been teleported straight from the Nürburgring paddock: a 1996 BMW E36, reborn with the heart of an M4 and the soul of a race car.

This isn’t just an engine swap; it’s a complete transformation. Under the bonnet lies BMW’s S55B30 straight-six from the F82 M4, paired with its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Team Schirmer’s fingerprints are everywhere: engine mounts, transmission crossmember, and a rear axle housing a Drexler limited-slip differential with 45% lock and dedicated cooling. The numbers speak for themselves: 431 horsepower pushing just 1,270 kilograms. That’s serious firepower.

RUF SCR: Analog Fury in a Digital Age

To the untrained eye this looks like any other older Porsche. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.This is the RUF SCR. It may wear the familiar silhouette of a classic 911, but beneath its instantly recognisable profile is something far more audacious: a supercar engineered entirely by RUF, built from the ground up on a proprietary carbon‑fiber monocoque chassis, and powered by a 4.0 liter naturally aspirated flat-six that screams its lungs out at 8,270 rpm.

RUF’s revival of the SCR name began in 2018, but the concept matured into the machine we see here. At Interclassics in Maastricht, Holland I spotted not one but two of these incredible machines. Bavaria Motors, a specialist in performance cars and official distributor of RUF, from Belgium made the trip to the event and showcased this green and silver example.

At the centre of both these cars sits that engine, a hand-built, water‑cooled 4.0‑liter flat-six developed entirely in-house. It produces 510 horsepower and has a direct electronic throttle system. Giving it a throttle response that modern turbocharged engines can only dream about. According to RUF, the engine reaches its peak power at 8,270 rpm and sends 470 Nm of torque rearwards through a six-speed manual transmission of its own design.

BMW E46 M3: Phoenix Rising

Few cars distil the joy of driving quite like the BMW E46 M3, and seeing this Phoenix Yellow example in the metal at the Essen Motor Show only reinforced its legend. Surrounded by wild show cars and modern exotica, it stood out by doing something far more difficult: being tasteful. This is OEM+ philosophy executed with restraint, confidence and a deep understanding of what made the E46 so special in the first place.

Under the bonnet sits BMW’s revered S54 straight-six, producing 333hp and mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. It remains one of the greatest naturally aspirated engines ever fitted to a road car, delivering its performance with razor-sharp throttle response and a spine-tingling soundtrack that modern turbo units can only dream of replicating. This is the beating heart of the car, and it needs no reinvention.

The stance has been subtly modernised with an Airlift Performance air suspension system using 3P management. Crucially, it’s set up with predefined pressure limits rather than extreme lowering, preserving drivability and protecting the chassis. Beneath the skin, Powerflex bushings and adjustable rear arms sharpen the handling, while a Supersprint stainless steel race system with twin 80mm tips ensures the car sounds every bit as serious as it looks.

Koenigsegg Jesko: Ultimate Hypercar Up Close

I have seen the Koenigsegg Jesko in real life before, but never from this close. Its intensity is something else. While visiting the Pace Museum I had the opportunity to spend some time with the car alone before other visitors came in. I spent a good while photographing every angle of the Koenigsegg Jesko Attack, peering into details that go way beyond just head-turning looks.

But let’s start with the facts. The Jesko’s 5.0‑litre twin‑turbocharged V8 is both brutal and refined, producing 1,280 hp on pump fuel and an astounding 1,600 hp on E85, supplemented by up to 1,500 Nm of torque at 5,100 rpm. At the heart of the car is the revolutionary nine‑speed Light Speed Transmission (LST), a marvel of engineering that uses seven multi‑disc clutches to allow instantaneous gear shifts between any ratio, no sequential lag, just seamless ferocity.