The most exciting cars of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2014

If you’re the type of person who worries about where to park the yacht at night, it’s highly likely you’ve already ordered the private jet to stop off at the Pebble Beach golf club in California this weekend.

The luxurious event is renowned for showing off some of the rarest and most valuable cars on the planet, while big-name manufacturers use it as an excuse to parade bespoke concepts and hot new models.

This year is no different, with British marques McLaren, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin all arriving in style. Plus, there’s an exclusive first look at a very special Bugatti Veyron.

Here’s our pick of the most exciting motors on display in amongst the greens and bunkers of California’s most exclusive car showroom.

Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR

This is quite simply the fastest and most powerful Land Rover ever made, thanks to the introduction of Jaguar’s ferocious supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine.

To prove the point, Jaguar engineers shipped the SVR to Germany’s infamous Nuburgring, strapped an insane racing driver into the front seat and told him to go hell for leather around the Nordschleife circuit. The speedy SUV went straight to the top of the lap time leader board and the rest, as they say, is history.

Pebble Beach will be the first public unveiling and punters should prepare to drool over the ludicrously flared wheel arches and marvel at the electronically controlled exhaust valves that – apparently – produce a soundtrack that makes Satan blush.

McLaren 650S Sprint

Can you believe a handful of McLaren 650S customers have actually complained that their vehicles aren’t hardcore enough? Well, they have – and the chaps from Woking have hit back with this track-ready beauty.

Dubbed the 650S Sprint, the track-only model features revised chassis and suspension set-ups, an improved Brake Steer system – which can brake a wheel for better cornering – and a stripped-out interior (complete will roll cage) that has been signed off by the FIA, so it’s ready to enter professional races.

The 650S Sprint will cost £198,000 when it goes on sale later this year – but expect to invest a whole lot more if you fancy becoming the next Jenson Button.

Jaguar Lightweight E-types

The story of the ‘six missing Jaguar E-Types’ is one that could easily sit in the Big Book of Automotive Folklore. In short: a total of 18 Lightweight E-types were supposed to be produced in the early 60s but – possibly thanks to free love and mind-bending drugs – only 12 were ever made.

Now, Jaguar’s recently formed Special Operations division has decided to resurrect the legend and finish the run, complete with the original 3.8-litre straight-six engines that have been built from scratch. Pebble Beach will showcase the first of six £1 million re-makes and it’s fair to say it is going to be a special moment.

Bugatti Veyron Ettore Bugatt Legend

We vowed to "eat glass just to smell the leather seats" of the sixth and final part of Bugatti’s Legends series but it would be a lot easier and a damn sight less painful to buy a ticket to the Concours d’Elegance where it will be available for public consumption. Seat-sniffing is probably out of the question but visitors can bask in the glory of a £1.8 million car that produces 1184bhp, rockets from 0-62mph in just 2.6 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 254mph.

The final Legend in the series is dedicated to founder Ettore Bugatti and celebrates his passion for the unusually flamboyant. Expect to see clear-coated carbon fibre body panels, diamond cut alloy wheels and an interior that has required more cows than your local chain of McDonald’s to complete.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster

This hulking, topless V12-powered brute was unleashed into the wild last month and customers are already queuing around the block with their chequebooks in order to try and secure one.

Well-heeled individuals will be gifted a closer look at the fastest ever open-top model Aston Martin has ever produced when it parades around the Pebble Beach arena at the weekend.

Aston Martin’s Q division will also be on hand to tempt prospective customers into parting with even more cash on bespoke interior trims, hand-stitched leathers and tacky headrest insignias.

BMW i8 Concours d’Elegance edition

Certain lucky journalists (ahem, us) have already had the chance to fool around in one of the most exciting cars of recent times but our poor American cousins are facing an enormous waiting list thanks to unprecedented demand.

A limited edition i8, complete with unique Frozen Grey metallic paint and brown leather upholstery, will go up for auction at the event, should desperate punters wish to jump the lengthy queue. And they’ll have good reason to; the plug-in all-wheel-drive hybrid harnesses power from a 1.5-litre twin turbo petrol engine and a potent electric motor, yielding up 20 miles of emissions-free motoring and a 0-62mph sprint of just 4.2 seconds. And as long as the US government approves, the vehicle will also be one of the first to boast laser lights.

It’s the future and it looks fantastic.

Jaguar F-Type Project 7

Not content with unleashing the F-Type on the world, Jaguar has created the even more powerful Project 7 racer. Taking styling cues from the legendary Jaguar D-Type, it’s the fastest Jaguar currently on sale.

The 5.0-litre supercharged V8 found in the current F-Type R has been fettled to produce an eye watering 567bhp, making it the most powerful F-Type by a long shot. Expect to blast from 0-60mph in just 3.8 seconds and rocket to a top speed of 186mph.

BMW Vision Future Luxury Concept

BMW takes the wraps off the future of luxury motoring with this carbon-fibre beauty, which offers hints of what’s to com in the sixth-generation 7-Series. It’ll waft you to the opera in style, overlaying augmented reality info onto the windscreen and illuminating the road ahead with Laserlight headlamps.

The car even features a detachable tablet that passengers can use to browse the web (and book those tickets to La traviata).

About

Relentlessly covering the automotive industry for as long as I can remember. Loving nothing more than vintage cafe racer motorcycles, tech-laden cars and VW Camper Vans.A published writer for various outlets of varying degrees of cool. If I'm not geeking out about the latest turbocharger or swotting up on hybrid powertrains, I can be found bobbing around in the sea on a surfboard pretending to be good at wave-sliding. Or just walking the dog.