I never liked Cadillacs until I came to the States. That event coincided with some of the best cars ever made by Cadillac - it was as though they put on a special effort just for me. And I am a complete convert; in my opinion, Cadillacs are now the best looking and most desirable of all American cars.

The Cadillac Sixteen, a design exercise from 2003, is the essence of all that has been good about Caddies ever since. Styling features have influenced later models and the car itself, with its 14.6 liter 16 cylinder engine, is the perfect combination of sports and luxury. It looks a brute and, thankfully, it is. No wonder Cadillacs today are serious contenders for the motorist’s checkbook.

Here’s what Top Gear had to say about the Sixteen when they tried it (lucky blighters).

Here’s something a bit unusual: the Bowler Wildcat, obviously designed with one eye on the Paris/Dakar Rally but being produced for sale too. It is based on the Land Rover but with much more power and strength.

As can be seen from the video, the net result is almost more fun and craziness than anyone could wish for. That is one very fast off road vehicle - if you have to own one, it will set you back a mere $100,000 or so.

When it comes to alternative fuels, it seems there are more possibilities out there than ever dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio. We all know about ethanol (basically fuel made from sugar), hydrogen and electricity, but how about running your car on vegetable oil? Yes, ordinary cooking oil.

It sounds crazy but apparently lots of people in the UK are doing it. It only works with diesel engines but there are plenty available over there and the low cost alone is enough to make it a tempting proposition.

Don’t believe me? Have a look at this Top Gear clip then. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

And when you hear that it works best with used cooking oil, preferably from a Mexican restaurant, well, I guess all those fiery chillies were bound to make a difference…

How often have we watched motor racing on the television and thought that everything seemed pretty slow? The braver of us may even have ventured that we could do better in our tuned-up road burners with the go faster stripe. It is hard to judge speed when watching it on a screen without peripheral vision to give us a reference point.

The Top Gear team performed a revealing test, however, pitting a standard but sporty car against a rally car and a Formula 1 racer - and the results are even more staggering than we can imagine. Have a look at this clip and be amazed at the speed of the F1 car.