Pat Devereux

The Porsche speedster with German efficiency almost cossets the driver, while the new, open-top Lamborghini Performante offers an uncompromising thrill ride

Nothing was wrong with the outgoing Jaguar XJ, other than the fact that no one could tell when you had bought a new one. Enter the 2011 XJ, and all that changes.

You might reasonably expect anything with the name Ghost to have an ethereally light touch, be whisper quiet, and offer supernatural levels of speed and agility. But to expect that of a 5,450-pound, very large, four-door car is probably pushing it a bit.

The 2010 Ferrari California represents many firsts for the company. It’s the marque’s first front-engine V8, first hard-topped convertible, first model to offer seven forward gears, and several other things besides.

It might look like it has just driven out of someone’s vivid fantasy, but the Spyker Aileron C8 Coupe has a heritage that stretches back almost to the 19th century. It’s more like the forgotten grandfather than a new kid on the block — older than Ferrari and Lamborghini combined.