Ferrari Dino

Dino was a marque for mid-engined, rear-drive sports cars produced by Ferrari from 1968 to 1976. Used for models with engines with fewer than 12 cylinders, it was an attempt by the company to offer a relatively low-cost sports car. The Ferrari name remained reserved for its premium V-12 and flat 12 models until 1976, when "Dino" was retired in favour of full Ferrari branding.

Named to honour Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari's son and heir Dino Ferrari, the Dino models used Ferrari racing naming designation of displacement and cylinder count with two digits for the size of the engine in deciliters and the third digit to represent the number of cylinders, i.e. 246 being a 2.4-litre 6-cylinder and 308 being a 3.0-litre 8-cylinder. Ferrari street models of the time used a three-digit representation of the displacement in cubic centimeters of one of the 12 cylinders, which would have been meaningless in a brand with differing numbers of cylinders.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W198) was the first iteration of the SL-Class grand tourer and fastest production car of its day. Introduced in 1954 as a two-seat coupé with distinctive gull-wing doors, it was later offered as an open roadster.

Built by Daimler-Benz AG, the direct fuel injected production model was based on the company's highly successful yet somewhat less powerful carbureted overhead camstraight 6 1952 racer, the W194.

The idea of a toned-down Gran Prix car tailored to affluent performance enthusiasts in the booming post-war American market was suggested by Max Hoffman. Mercedes accepted the gamble and the new 300 SL – 300 for its 3.0 litre engine displacement and SL for Sport Leicht (Sport Light) – was introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show rather than the Frankfurt or Geneva gatherings company models made their usual debuts.

Immediately successful and today iconic, the 300 SL stood alone with its distinctive doors, first-ever production fuel injection, and world's fastest top speed. The original coupé was available from March 1955 to 1957, the roadster from 1957 to 1963.

A smaller, slightly heavier, less luxurious and much cheaper 1.9 liter roadster using the Ponton class 4-cylinder engine was introduced in 1955 as the 190 SL. Both the 300 SL and the 190 SL were followed in the Mercedes line by the 230SL. Today's 426 kW; 579 PS (571 hp), nearly 320 km/h (200 mph), gull-winged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGis regarded as the 300 SL's spiritual successor.

Lamborghini Miura

The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car pioneered the mid-engined two-seat layout, the standard for high-performance sports and supercars since. When released, it was the fastest production road car made.

The Miura was originally conceived by Lamborghini's engineering team, which designed the car in its spare time against the wishes of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, who preferred powerful yet sedate grand touring cars over the race car-derived machines produced by local rival Ferrari.

The Miura's rolling chassis was presented at the 1965 Turin auto show, and the prototype P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva show. It received stellar receptions from showgoers and the motoring press alike, each impressed by Marcello Gandini's sleek styling and the car's revolutionary mid-engine design.

Lamborghini's flagship, the Miura received periodic updates and remained in production until 1973. A year later the extreme Countach entered the automaker's lineup, amid tumultuous financial times for the company.