Year of the Sports Car

Happy New Year all. Apologies for being a bit thin on the new post front over the festive season, due to two reasons: there's very little car news or motorsport going on this time of year to get worked up about, and I have been preoccupipied with the delightfully stressful experience that is buying myself a car at last. More on that as things start to happen in the coming weeks, fingers crossed.

Apart from my own motoring treat to look forward to, it does seem that there's plenty for all car fans to get excited about in the coming year. If you're down with the winter, post-Christmas blues, check out the rundown below to see just why 2011 is a performance car fan's dream

Since the timing of such releases is subject to change I'll ignore the chronology and get straight in with the heavyweight new showings. Due this summer is Lamborghini's headliner, the lighter, 700bhp Murcielago replacement, most likely to be named Jota or Aventador. Tantalising sample drives of test hacks have proved promising for several journos so the future looks bright.

It could only be a Pagani

Wading into battle against the new Sant'Agata car is the new Pagani model, taking over from the hallowed Zonda with another bespoke AMG V12, this time assisted by flavour-of-the-month twin turbos to give likely well in excess of 700bhp also. Could be quite a clash, as Lambo tries to prove it can still produce outrageous yet driveable cars in the wake of economical and environmental obstacles, while Pagani must simply ensure the beloved Zonda wasn't a fluke. Stopping constant 'last ever special edition one-off' run out specials every other month for well-heeled fans might be a start. Lamborghini meanwhile has caved in to demand for its Sesto Elemento carbon concept car and looks set to make a very limited run of non-road legal special for favoured customers. Considering the popularity of the extortionate Reventon in 2009, sales won't be hard to find.

The English New World Order comes in the form of the Aston Martin One-77 and McLaren MP4-12C, the latter of which will probably provide the twin test of the year when it goes up against the Ferrari 458 Italia. Also to look forward to in the lesser powered stakes is a totally new model from Caterham to sit as a "logical expansion" to the current lightweight lineup.

The natural home of the modern exec saloon...the Nordschleife

Germany potentially has much to be proud of in the form of the forthcoming iterations of the Audi RS3, Porsche 911,  Mercedes SLS cabriolet and BMW M5. The Ultimate Driving Machine's ultimate expression of the current 3-Series, the very orange M3 GTS, will meet customers as of this month, while the hotly-anticipated 1-Series M will vie for business with the top spec Porsche Cayman R. Meanwhile fellow countrymen Seb Vettel and Michael Schumacher are again ones to watch in the 2011 F1 season.

Love or loath it, the 911's back (no pun intended)

Still keeping up? In that case enjoy the thought of Ferrari publicly revealing three new models this year: a convertible 458, the SA APERTA (read open-top 599 GTO) and 612 Scaglietti replacement for the 2+2 GT model line. Versions of some of the supercars mentioned above will also be seen doing battle on the world's racetracks in various endurance and GT3 series, all stripped out and festooned with wings that wouldn't embarrass a B-52. And there's a chance of a new world's fastest production car if the new SSC Aero-successor arrives on time.

Of course there's the usual raft of new family hatchbacks with frugal petrol and/or hybrid power, as well as controversial releases like the Range Rover Evoque and Mini Coupé. So while the mass manufacturers contine to push in ostensibly the right direction, in efficiency and safety, there's still plenty on both the road and racetracks to lust after (and aspire to) in 2011. Get the annual out, it's going to be a vintage.