The McLaren F1 GTR

The McLaren F1 is still the fastest normally aspirated (i.e. non-turbo) car in the world, despite being designed over twenty years ago.

But the F1 was never about raw speed, that was just a function of the refusal by McLaren to compromise in its design, not matter how much the solution cost: so gold foil lines the engine bay, the exhaust is made of titanium, and the amplifier for the stereo was milled down in-house by one of its Formula 1 technicians. As you do.

In fact, wherever you look, the F1 was, is, and probably always will be, the most pure and extreme example of automotive engineering in the world. (It's also a pretty a decent investment, with the cars now worth upwards of £8,000,000 and rising fast, from an initial purchase price of just over £500,000.). 

But if you thought the road car was fanatically engineered, then you wouldn't believe the attention to detail on the GTR, the no-holds-barred racing version that won - and dominated - the Le Mans 24-hour race at its first attempt in 1995.

Unconvinced? Then just look at the gear change, shown here. The more you look the more you see, and if this doesn't stir your soul then you might want to get a doctor to check for a heartbeat...