Five much-loved limited-edition cars for the summer season

European marques often preview upcoming limited-edition cars amid the social whirl of midsummer. Several have gleamed in the past month’s long evening light, but the following five should attract Hong Kong’s collectors.

The Mercedes-AMG GT R looks to be the car of the year. The twin-turbo, four-litre V8 arguably stole the season at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England three weeks ago, and might have revived the “haute” motoring popularity of metallic “Kermit” green. The marque describes the rear-wheel-drive supercar’s shade as “AMG Green Hell magno”, however, to highlight the supercar’s performance during testing on the Nurburgring in Germany.

The 1,555kg Mercedes-AMG GT R packs power behind its new AMG Panamerica grille, and with a modified suspension, stiffer body, new aerodynamics and a wider track. The 585-horsepower supercar is 75hp stronger than the GT S and produces 700 Newton metres of torque to achieve 100km/h in 3.6 seconds and a 318km/h top speed.

Such enhancements were achieved “with the help of new turbochargers” and more oomph in the AMG Speedshift DCT seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission on standard-fit Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, with 275/35 ZR 19 at the front and 325/30 ZR 20 at the rear. The Mercedes-AMG GT R’s pre-sales start on November 21, with a European launch planned for March next year.

It has been a big month for Ford. On June 19, the Blue Oval marque reaffirmed its Le Mans heritage by winning the GT class of the 24 Hours race. Ford GTs also finished in third, fourth and ninth places in the race. Such success was timely as it was 50 years after Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon won Le Mans in a GT40 Mark II racer, and just as the marque plans production of the 600-horsepower Ford GT “in late 2016”. Last month, the carmaker announced the upcoming production of the Ford GT ’66 Heritage Edition. It’s a looker in matte or gloss black, with a white stripe and carbon touches on gold 20-inch wheels. Ford has not specified its price, availability or its “limited” production run, however.

The GT is “one of more than 12 new Ford Performance vehicles coming by 2020”, alongside the Focus RS, F-150 Raptor, Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R, the marque says. A hit at last year’s Detroit Motor Show, the rear-wheel-drive GT has a new, mid-mounted 3.5-litre, V6 twin-turbocharged Ford EcoBoost and a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission with paddle shifts, on 20-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tyres.