Video: this month's cover shoot

Before you watch the video below, a few words from Editor-In-Chief Charlie Turner on this month’s Top Gear Magazine

In this job, pinching yourself is pretty standard operating procedure. Lucky doesn’t cover it, and it’s worth taking time to realise that as often as possible. But as I stand sheltering in the back of a support truck with the rest of the TG crew, rain lashing down outside across the world’s most expensively populated car park, pinching isn’t quite doing it.

“Someone punch me in the face – life isn’t going to get better than this.” After three epic journeys in the greatest performance cars currently on sale, here they are, sat at the top of Italy’s finest road. And I have the keys to every one of them in my hand.

This year’s collective has a combined value of £3,718,090, 6,071bhp and 24 driven wheels between them. Ok, so the Veyron (the first one ever to be loaned for a performance-car showdown) skews things a bit with its 1,187bhp and £1.8m pricetag, but, as it sits surrounded by a BMW 1-Series M, a Zonda F and everything else in between, it’s clear that we’ve managed to assemble one of the greatest sets of cars ever to do battle.

And battle they will: sat inert and skulking in the McLaren MP4-12C is the Stig, waiting to prove unscientifically (sorry, Ron) how good Woking’s finest really is.

Over the staggering five days we spend in the company of these truly epic cars, all will shine, some more than others.

But what becomes clear as I stare across the rainswept fantasy car park is that there’s not a loser among them. We live in extraordinary times: performance cars have never been so diverse, capable or accessible.

Time to scramble the Stig into action. I tap on the window, he winds it down and promptly punches me in the face. Welcome, then, to his supercar showdown...

Stig’s Supercar Showdown is on sale in all the usual reputable vendors right now. Watch the video below for a small taste, then head out and get your own copy…And look out for more videos in the coming weeks.