TVR used to be a very small company that made typical British sports cars - in Blackpool, Lancashire, of all places. They followed the same formula as all the other constructors: lightweight fiberglass body on a great-handling chassis and a lightly-tuned straight-4 to provide the power. AC broke away from the norm when Carroll Shelby squeezed an enormous American V8 into their Ace to create the Cobra and that gave everyone the same idea - why not do the same for other Brit sports cars?

It was tried with a variety of cars and TVR were no exception, but nothing earth-shattering was created until the eighties, when the company was bought by Peter Wheeler, a millionaire with big ideas. He wanted to make TVR into a “serious” sports car manufacturer.

The result was a series of models that multiplied to the point of confusion. They all had one thing in common, however - they were ridiculously overpowered and a handful to drive as a result. Until the Sagaris of 2004, that is.

The styling is very TVR, aggressive and slightly over the top, but at last the company had produced a car that could handle the power delivered by its 4 liter straight-6. And the result was a car as desirable as any of the great Italian supercars at a fraction of the price.

Well, Jeremy Clarkson seems to think so, anyway…

Back in the nineties, Sony released the PlayStation game that changed console racing games forever: Gran Turismo. It was spectacular in its realism, with detailed graphics and seemingly true-to-life handling of the numerous cars it was possible to sample. But then, in 1999, they released the follow-up, GT 2, and we were introduced to real tracks to play on.

Very quickly one track became the favorite, the mighty Laguna Seca, and it did so by virtue of one corner - the Corkscrew. A sharp left after a rising blind crest, a drop down at an impossible angle and a swooping right, that was the Corkscrew; it tested games players to the limit, especially when driving one of the ridiculously powerful cars included in the game. I am still proud of the fact that I did eventually learn how to get the Toyota Le Mans car through the Corkscrew without careering off for a meeting with the barriers.

But what is it like in reality? How does the game compare when you are in a powerful car attempting a quick lap at Laguna Seca?

Thanks to Top Gear and YouTube, we can find out. Have a look at this clip - Jeremy Clarkson trying to get a Honda NSX within reach of a respectable lap time.

I love Alfa Romeos. Of course, it’s easy for me to say that, never having owned one. But, even though I know all the reasons not to buy an Alfa, if given the chance, I would be severely tempted. Alfas are more than cars, they are works of art.

And the best of them is the Alfa 166, a car so pretty that most of us would give in before even sitting in it. Jeremy Clarkson tried one for Top Gear and I am happy to report that he understands about Alfas. He has even worked out a way that you can buy one without worrying about the huge depreciation they suffer from. If you live in the UK, that is.

Have a look.

Just before the beginning of WWII, the de Havilland aircraft company proposed to the Air Ministry that they build a bomber that was so fast it would not need any defensive armament. The Ministry turned it down, believing the idea to be impossible, but de Havilland went ahead and built the plane anyway - almost entirely out of wood!

The result was the Mosquito, a plane that exceeded all of its intended limits and went on to be one of the best aircraft of the war. It was so fast and light that it was used in all sorts of roles - all because of the strength and light weight of the wood it was built from. The lesson must surely be: don’t knock wood!

And it seems the same applies in car design. A furniture maker with the unlikely name of Friend Wood has built a three wheeled car with a wooden body. Using mechanicals and 602cc engine from a Citroen 2CV, the car has a top speed of over 100 mph and returns a fuel consumption of between 55 and 70 mpg. That’s not bad by any standards.

The car has been named the Tryane II and, although the body makes no secret of its wooden construction, it is well streamlined and quite pretty. Mind you, I’m not sure how it would fare in an accident - imagine all those splinters flying about…