For more than a decade, the Forza Motorsport series has established itself as not only one of the most robust and realistic racing sims on console, but home to one of the most passionate and vibrant online gaming communities in the world. With so many unique features built into the base game already, like custom paint skins to shared time trials to becoming established as an esport, the series has done an admirable job of making you feel part of a larger global racing community.

Now powered by Xbox One X, Forza Motorsport 7 will not only improve the excellent racing experience with state of the art visual fidelity, but also expand upon the robust community features the series has come to be known for with even more options for custom liveries, new personalized driver gear, full support for Clubs on Xbox Live and more.

Welcome to the Forza Garage, our weekly series of car reveals for Forza Motorsport 7. With more than 700 vehicles in the game at launch, Forza Motorsport 7 features the most diverse lineup of cars in series history. Each week in the Forza Garage we’ll put the spotlight on some of the most notable cars in the list and offer some background on what makes these cars so special. Whether you’re looking to learn something new or you’re making plans of which cars to hit first when the game is released beginning on Sept. 29 (via early access for Ultimate Edition), we hope you enjoy our weekly look at Forza’s biggest and best car list yet.

We’re kicking off the Forza Garage with a bang, showcasing more than 160 cars this week alone, including the largest collection of Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris ever seen in a racing game. Call these legendary manufacturers “The Big Three” if you like, but they all represent the cutting edge of visual design, innovative engineering, and perhaps best of all, raw unadulterated performance. Welcome to Week 1 of the Forza Garage. Let’s get started!

2014 Porsche 918 Spyder
The 918 Spyder is the culmination of years of research and technical prowess from the first company that ever sported a prancing horse on its badge. Built almost entirely of carbon fiber, the 918’s nearly 900 combined horsepower is generated from its 4.6-liter naturally-aspirated flat crank V8 and hybrid electrical system. The 918 Spyder already set a production car lap record at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and shattered the production car record at the Nürburgring by 14 seconds. The blank sheet of paper 918 designers started with produced innovations in every direction and convention was left by the wayside. The result is nothing less than the spark of a new generation of the highest performing vehicles the world has ever seen.

2011 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
Faceted like a cut diamond, there’s no mistaking the Sesto Elemento for anything else on the road — even other Lamborghinis. Sesto elemento is Italian for “sixth element;” if you don’t have a periodic table nearby, that’s carbon, a not-so-subtle hint that the body is composed entirely of the woven stuff. Regardless of what it’s made out of, the Sesto Elemento is primal and aggressive, studded with blinding red accents and show-stopping open rear bodywork, from which the taillights and transaxle dangle precariously. Under the six red hexagons serving as outlets for engine heat resides the same 5.2-liter V10 found normally in the Gallardo but, considering the Sesto Elemento is more than half a ton lighter than the Gallardo, performance is in another dimension entirely. Lamborghini claims the carbon-covered monster will teleport to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds, and that seems reasonable, if you can consider such wild acceleration reasonable at all. For truly elemental performance, look no further than this ultimate Lamborghini.

1967 Ferrari #23 Ferrari Spa 330 P4
The epic battle between Ford and Ferrari reached a flashpoint in 1966, when Ford GT40s swept the podium at Le Mans. Clearly, the 330 P3 needed a revision to compete the following season, and engineers swarmed over the car. The resulting P4 looked identical from a few steps back — onlookers were surely confused when the first P4 first saw the light of day, wearing nearly the same beautifully sinister lines. However, a closer look reveals significant changes that perhaps only became obvious when P4s swept the podium at Daytona as payback for the Le Mans humiliation the year before (and providing the new Ferrari 365 GTB/4 its famous nickname in the process). Of the changes, the most important from a competition perspective was an extensive re-engineering of the 330’s power plant, the largest Lampredi V12 in Ferrari’s arsenal. Fitted with a new three-valve head and fuel injection, it is good for 450 horsepower. The slightly shorter P4 only weighed a ton, so performance was (and still is) staggering — more than enough for Ferrari to capture the Prototype Championship, and also more than enough for the FIA to jump in and limit next year’s prototypes to only three liters, effectively ending the careers of both the P4 and the GT40.

Today, we’re also showing off the depth of classic cars that are a part of Forza Motorsport 7’s mammoth 700+ car list, including pre-war racers that will challenge drivers of every skill level, post-war cruisers cars that changed the way the public thought of the automobile, and many more. The range of materials and technology on display here is as varied as the cars’ shapes, sizes and capabilities. From wooden frame cars to pre-war biasply tires, the ForzaTech engine recreates all the intricacies and nuances that make these legendary cars so special.

For example, the 1950 Alfa Romeo 158, or “Alfetta” was driven by some of the greatest drivers in motorsport history. Or consider the 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, an early VW sports car designed in Italy (yes, you read that right, Volkswagen is returning to Forza). Then there is the American game changer, the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette, an automotive revelation that defined and influenced car design for generations.

Here’s a closer look at the vintage cars from week two of the Forza Motorsport 7 Garage:
1950 Alfa Romeo 158
Alfa Romeo has been building race cars since 1913. In fact, they started racing just after the company was founded. It wasn’t long after they found victory, and they went on to compete in nearly every form of motorsport with great success. The 158, or the Alfetta for “Little Alfa” as it is commonly known, has earned its way to reverence as one of the most successful race cars ever built, winning an astounding 87 percent of the grand prix races it and its subsequent model – the 159 – competed in. The 1,479 cc supercharged straight 8-cylinder engine in this model produced around 350 hp aboard its lithe tube-frame chassis. The great Juan-Manual Fangio along with Giuseppe Farina took the 158 to win every race but the Indy 500 during its post-war debut season. Fangio would, of course, go on to win the World Driver’s Championship five times making the 158 a storied piece of motorsport legend.

1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
“The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is the most economical sports car you can buy… it’s just not the most powerful,” says the announcer in the commercial introducing the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Although it’s true enough that it was never a powerful sports car, in the looks department the Karmann Ghia has character and style in spades. Automotive historian Jan Norbye called out its stylistic similarities to the Alfa Romeo 2500 S and the Lancia Aurelia. Those styling cues are no doubt Italian, as the Karmann Ghia was designed by Ghia, a prestigious Italian design firm. Karmann coachworks was under orders to design a sports car to build over the VW chassis. After several of their proposals were rejected, Karmann reached out to Ghia, who delivered a prototype that perfectly hit the mark. The car has seen more than 20 years of production and the only cosmetic changes were larger bumpers and head and taillights.

1953 Chevrolet Corvette
Most legends come from humble beginnings, and the story of the Corvette is no different. In an era where the only true sports cars were built in Europe, Chevy saw an opportunity. The company went about building a dream team to design a car that would appeal to a younger market, give the brand some flash and keep it ahead of Ford in sales. Harley Earl, GM’s then design chief, let fly with an idea he had been coveting for more than a year after watching European sports cars at Watkins Glen: a low to the ground, two-seat roadster. Driven by practicality, the 1953 Corvette uses mostly off-the-shelf components such as the “Blue Flame” 160hp, 235-cubic inch in-line six-cylinder engine and two-speed Powerglide transmission. The only options available were a heater (which cost $91) and an AM radio ($145). All 300 that sold in 1953 had both options. The 1953 Corvette didn’t even have roll-up windows. All the cars were hand-built, and all were Polo White with red interiors. The use of fiberglass was not only a weight-saving innovation but was a necessity due to the Korean War and a limited availability of steel. The 1953 Corvette’s dramatic and bold exterior was just what the public wanted and it forever changed the course of American car history.