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March 19, 2008

Cartoon character

Cast yourself back, if you will, to the golden days of the 1950s - when Brylcreem flowed freely, ties were floral, and every car came straight off the set of Sin City. Or Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

At least, they did if you believe Creative Workshop, the Florida-based coachbuilders responsible for this, the Sport Speciale.

A retro roadster that harks back to late 50s legends including the Ferrari 250 TestaRossa, Aston DBR1 and Maserati 450S, the Sport Speciale is a one-off build that mixes old and new to create a frankly bizarre, erm, thing.

The old? The detailing is all original: the steering wheel is Nardi, the wheels were built on the same jigs as old Ferrari wires, and even those behind-the-grille headlights are vintage Marchals.

The new, however, is rather more exciting. The tubular chassis and aluminium body hides a BMW V12 - the six-litre unit out the 760i, we're guessing - mated to a six-speed transmission. Creative Workshop won't reveal any performance figures, but 400-and-something bhp power plus featherweight chassis tends to equal face-altering acceleration, in our experience.

We'd like to know what you think of the styling, though. We've got a feeling its one of those bits of design that'll polarise opinion like Tilda Swinton smothered in Marmite.

So, glorious piece of retro extravagance or hideous over-styled cartoon tat? Email tgweb@bbc.co.uk and let us know.

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  • Creative Workshop Sport Speciale
  • Creative Workshop Sport Speciale
  • Creative Workshop Sport Speciale
  • Creative Workshop Sport Speciale
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