CAR UK

welcome

The first issue of CAR I worked on, here on my desk, tells me I’ve been on this magazine nearly six years. I’ve no idea where that time has gone. Intense? You could say that. Never driven anything with more than 150bhp? Here you go, have a new M3. Now, here’s a ticket to Los Angeles; you’ll be there a week. Report on the motor show, understand hydrogen fuel cells (does anyone?), ask intelligent questions in a blur of interviews despite a jet-lagged brain, then pull off a four-car cover story and – when all you want to do is sleep – write a new Corvette review on the flight home because we’re on press. Week one, done. Suffice to say, nothing’s been the same since. Tokyo, Le Mans, Montenegro, California, Detroit,…

ben miller

When were you first aware of CAR? I bought a few issues through the ’90s but it was April 2001 – ‘Japan: the second coming’ – that blew my mind; the style, the intelligence, the majesty of it as a creative achievement. Why did you like it? Its ambition. No one, nothing and nowhere was out of reach. Most titles considered France an ‘adventure’ – CAR would go to Chernobyl. Favourite cover? September 2006, the subscriber cover: an extraordinary Bugatti Veyron sits in a starkly lit but otherwise very ordinary garage. Which was the first issue you worked on? January 2015. It was nearly finished when I arrived and it was terrifyingly good. Your best CAR moment? Texas in a Model X or being granted the only drive of the LaFerrari Aperta for our Ferrari at 70 issue. And your…

the lost samurai

Today’s battery tech couldn’t offer sufficient reserves of either performance or range This is the Z Proto, a twin-turbo V6 coupe concept which previews the imminent eighth generation of Nissan’s famous sports car. One with a sting in the tail, and we’re not talking about the circa 400bhp it’ll send to the rear wheels. The dispiriting news is that Nissan has decided against selling the next Z in Europe. Why? ‘A shrinking European sports-car market and specific regulations on emissions mean that Nissan was unable to build a viable business case for the introduction of the next-generation Z-car,’ according to a spokesperson. This isn’t the first time Europe’s CO2 crackdown has scuppered a big name in performance: the business case for Ford’s fourth-generation Focus RS, a proposed all-wheel-drive, high-performance hybrid, was kiboshed by…

georg kacher’s inside line

► VW Group is on the verge of passing control of Bugatti to Croatian electromobility powerhouse Rimac. VW will get to tap into the EV nous of ‘Europe’s Tesla’, while Rimac gets a hand with its planned electric hypercar – and quite possibly a big pile of cash. The deal has, we’re told by insiders, been agreed between the innovative EV company’s founder, Mate Rimac, and VW executives, but is awaiting approval by VW’s supervisory board. VW has, via Porsche, had a stake in Rimac – which builds few vehicles, but is world-renowned for its technical expertise – since 2018. That stake will grow as part of this deal, which should boost VW’s ambitious electrification plans. In exchange for letting VW get its corporate foot further into the door of Rimac’s modest Zagreb…

merc r-class reborn as electric suv

1 RETURN OF THE R This is the most potent creation in a product plan left behind by departed AMG boss Tobias Moers. Picture the GLC in its sportiest form, blow it up a couple of sizes, change the proportions to reflect its lack of engine, and the outcome could be a modern take on the old R-Class, the oddball MPV/luxury limo, available with up to seven seats. 2 WHAT’S IN A NAME? A reborn R-Class arriving 20 years after the original could be badged as an EQ (electric division) product or AMG (emphasising its vast power). It’s tentatively badged Mercedes-AMG GLR but, given its electric-only powertrain, may become EQR. It would rub shoulders with confirmed electric versions of the G-Class (EQG) and S-Class (EQS). 3 NEXT-GEN BATTERIES Energy is provided by a 105kWh power…

engineering a time machine

What if crack touring car outfit Cyan Racing could go back in time and race in the ‘60s? Christian Dahl, boss of the Scandi team founded in 1996, wanted to make that idea a reality with a continuation model based on the Volvo P1800. His imagination was fired by reborn versions of the Jaguar E-Type and classic Porsche 911s. ‘That left us with inspiration to create what could have been if we, as a race team, had been there during the ‘60s, racing the P1800, and got to design a road version of our race car,’ says Dahl. His team has pedigree: it’s won three World Touring Car titles and countless victories in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. The Volvo P1800 Cyan is a fresh build from the ground up, keeping the…