Inhaltsverzeichnis für January 2017 in CAR UK

Newport Pagnell, here we come Aston Martin DB4 GT | 1959/2017 Aston is reviving the feistier, shorter, race-prepped DB4. Continuing the original VIN numbers, the 25 track-only specials (costing £1.5m) will again come out of Newport Pagnell – the first Astons to be built there in 10 years. Like a phoenix from the flames Jaguar XKSS | 1957/2016 The E-type (see below) went so well, Jag’s doing the timewarp again with XKSS. Only 16 were originally built because fire gutted the Browns Lane factory. Nearly 60 years later, Jaguar’s completing the final nine cars. It’ll make you knobbly at the knees Lister Knobbly | 1958/2014 Built using the same jigs as the original ’50s racecars, the continuation Listers offer similar fire-breathing performance with a choice of 4.6 V8 or 3.8…

1 You look different, Golf GTI. Have you done something with your hair? It’s facelift time for the Mk7 Golf, and in turn an overhaul for the GTI. The go-faster Golf’s now even punchier, with a 10bhp power hike and bigger-bore exhausts. It looks a bit fussier too, with red hockey stick ‘winglets’ encircling its dual LED headlights. 2 Will there still be a go-even-faster Performance Pack version? There will. The regular facelifted GTI now turns out 227bhp, the same output as the old pre-facelift Performance Pack version. Equip the new GTI with the PP and power climbs to a useful 242bhp, along with bigger brakes and a limited-slip diff. 3 What about tech? Any clever new toys to play with? Gesture control – pick the top touchscreen option (now…

RALLY CO-DRIVERS HAVE admirable skills, but I’d like to see one get me through the Euston Road’s endless traffic lights ‘flat’, without having to stop once. The UK Autodrive project might just have the answer: traffic lights that tell cars how fast you need to drive to catch the green cycle. It’s all due to V2X: not a youthful text sign-off, but shorthand for vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. As part of the UK Autodrive project (see main story), Tata Motors has demonstrated a Tiago supermini that can communicate with a connected traffic light, in a bid to keep traffic flowing. In the trial, the traffic light’s location and phasing is broadcast up to a kilometre away via Dedicated Short Range Communications. A receiver in the car monitors signals, and when it’s within…

How does it work? When the driver gets out of their wheelchair and into the car, they push a button on the vehicle’s touchscreen or smartphone app. The car and the wheelchair communicate, car suggesting wheelchair gets its lightweight electric arse to the tailgate pronto. A platform motors down from the car to meet it, picks it up, and stows the eChair away neatly in the boot. Sounds clever… It does. The eChair is an autonomous lightweight electric wheelchair that removes the hassle from getting in to and out of cars for disabled drivers. It moves itself, it loads itself… It’s an ingenious concept worked up by Ford engineers Gunther Cuypers, Robin Celis and David Longin, one of 600 ideas submitted for Ford’s Last Mile Mobility Challenge. What happens when…

IT’S ONLY A year since the Lotus Exige morphed into the lighter, faster Exige Sport 350 but the Sport 380 takes another Nomex-booted stride forwards. As the name suggests, power’s up by 30bhp but bigger wins come from added aero and subtracted weight. Those vicious-looking double canards protruding from the Exige’s cheekbones, together with other spoilers, spats and splitters, conjure 60% more downforce than the Sport 350 at top speed. Plenty of carbonfibre, with spidery forged wheels, paper-thin racing seats and various other shavings, cut a net 15kg from the kerb. Lightweight options include carbonfibre roof and tailgate, and a titanium exhaust. At Hethel’s test circuit, super-handy chassis engineer Gavan Kershaw can get the 380 around a lap a full 2.5sec faster than the 350. Most manufacturers allow a handful…

MR LOGIC IS a character born of the twisted minds behind the comic Viz . A pimply nerd with limitless knowledge espoused in a reasoned, florid and humourless manner, Mr Logic finds himself talking down to fellow citizens in everyday situations, until he eventually provokes them into violent retribution. The Skoda Kodiaq is a seven-seat SUV born of the rational minds at Volkswagen’s Czech outpost Skoda. Perspicaciously, it’s based on the group’s MQB architecture, which means it shares its MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, transverse four-cylinder internal combustion engines and other components with sister SUVs the Seat Ateca and Volkswagen Tiguan, generating useful economies of scale. Sensibly, the Kodiaq is differentiated by being the most elongated, which enables Skoda to offer a seven-seat option, costing £1000 more than…

ALEX TAPLEY Volkswagen Passat GTE ‘If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses’ That’s what Henry Ford said, the inference being he knew better than consumers. Does VW? With saloons currently out of favour, do we need a plug-in hybrid Passat (the only plug-in on test) and the Golf GTE? Oh, yes; that diesel thing... Superthunderstingcar is go! Not in the least. Nothing about the design remotely yells futuristic, and only distinguishable from a standard Passat by dint of electric blue trim and a recharging socket hidden behind a plasticky radiator grille flap. The elephant in the loadspace There must be; how else can it weigh a whopping 352kg more than the Ioniq? Still, ruthlessly well-made interior, driving position excellent, seats comfortable, and more…

WHETHER IT LIKES it or not, Land Rover is in the business of building icons. The wait for its re-interpretation of Defender has been long, uncomfortable and peppered with unconvincing concepts – and the purgatory isn’t over yet. By contrast the L405 fourth-generation Range Rover left no one in any doubt as to modern Land Rover’s ability to both understand its cars and to comprehensively yet sensitively evolve them. And now there’s a new Land Rover Discovery. Discoverys 3 and 4 were accidental icons, born of necessity, thrust onto the frontline of some of the toughest theatres of war in which a car can be expected to serve – messy livestock transportation mainly, human and otherwise – and since celebrated for their combination of rugged good looks, space, family versatility…

£12k-£40k, 1992-2003 | TVR Chimaera 400 3950cc V8, 240bhp, 4.7sec 0-62mph, 152mph • Is this a good idea? ‘The first cars are called pre-Serpentine spec. They were built from 1992 to late 1994 – don’t buy one. The second batch from 1994 are called Serpentine because they had the later engine and a Borg Warner T5 gearbox. They had overheating problems but the build quality was a lot better. The car we would suggest you buy is one of the facelift cars, which started in 1997 – you open the door by a button on the wing mirror. Those cars had a full exterior and interior facelift but generally were an awful lot better. They carried on with a few body changes until 2001 and the run-out model.’ • How…

HI, I’M CHRIS Chilton. You may remember me from such articles as ‘Golf Giant Test’, ‘Audi A3: first drive’, and ‘Renault promises new RS will be 0.00001sec quicker round the Nürburgring (and for some reason people give a toss)’. I’m lucky enough to drive some incredible new machinery here at CAR , including outrageous hypercars and state-of-the-art limos, but if you read our sister mag Modern Classics , you may see my name pop up at the top of features on a quite different set of cars. Stuff that I first drove for CAR and Autocar back in the early noughties, plus some older metal from the 1970s and 1980s that I always wanted to try, or owned years ago and have been lucky enough to get reacquainted with. So…

OLGUN KORDAL MY BIGGEST-EVER car has departed, and it leaves an equally big hole in our family life. The Audi Q7 really is big: 50mm longer than a Range Rover and 200mm longer than a Range Rover Sport. You’d need an ocean-going Mercedes GLS to overshadow it, and then only by 80mm. My three year old, with the keen eye for automotive assessment that will doubtless see him follow me into motoring journalism, referred to it simply as ‘the big car’. You would expect a huge, luxury SUV costing fifty-four grand (or nearly sixty-five as tested) to ace family life, and it did. More surprising was how it did all this while never allowing its size to be a pain in the ass. Part of the interest of this longterm…

CHRIS TEAGLES THE BOX WAS so big we initially thought Tim Pollard had got himself couriered back to the office so he could carry on working during the journey. Once manhandled up the stairs, slightly in the manner of a silent Eric Sykes film, the box sat by Tim’s desk, interfering with the light and compromising the fire exit. Whatever it was, no way was he ever going to get it home. Then, inevitably: ‘Greg, can I borrow your Superb tonight?’ Tim had materialised, and not from inside the box. ‘I’ve got to get this McLaren home.’ It wasn’t a baby buggy (not a Maclaren, then), but a 1:3.5-scale ride-on electric P1 (we’ve learned not to ask about the items Tim periodically transports). ‘I’m road-testing it,’ he claimed. Of course…

1 What’s going on here then? This is Vauxhall’s next Insignia, due in the UK next June. Its new Epsilon 2 architecture offers fwd or awd and downsized engines, stretching from 109bhp to 247bhp. A new five-link rear axle and (optional) torque vectoring add smiles to the sensible vibe. 2 Grand by name and nature? At 4.9m long, it’s straying slap bang into Skoda Superb territory. It’s the biggest mid-sizer yet to wear a Griffin badge, yet up to 175kg lighter than before. Choose from hatchback or Sports Tourer estate; RIP four-door repmobile. 3 Tricks and toys aplenty then? Gadget and gizmo tech is arguably more important than the oily stuff to fleets and families, so Vauxhall has bundled all-seeing LED headlamps, hushed double-glazing and adaptive dampers into the range’s…

ILLUSTRATION: SENOR SALME IT WASN’T LONG ago that Moray Callum, Ford’s design vice president and younger brother of Ian – the one who runs Jaguar design – launched the latest fire-breathing V8 Mustang. But now he’s working on a project that will see Ford launch its first autonomous vehicle by 2021. Despite a personal taste for things analogue – he’s a keen classic car collector and tinkerer and didn’t send his first text until a few years back – the affable Scot is palpably excited at the prospect. ‘I think the next ten years is probably going to be the most exciting period ever in car design,’ he enthuses. ‘The whole autonomous thing will be a real challenge. Electric vehicles too, but the autonomous trend is the one that is…

Jeep Compass Mid-size SUVs sell like Lego in December, a fact FCA is acutely aware of following the success of the Fiat 500X-based Renegade. So in comes Compass, again on FCA’s small-wide platform, to slide between Renegade and Cherokee when it lands here in early 2018. In the US the Compass arrives soon in four trim levels: Sport, Latitude, Trailhawk (towing eyes, underbody protection) and flagship Limited. The Trailhawk should make it to the UK and promises dirt capability to make a 500X weep thanks to extra ground clearance and Land Rover-aping hill-descent- and terrain-response electronics. Equipment more likely to see regular use is the (optional) panoramic roof and the Uconnect touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto. NEED TO KNOW • What is it? Jeep’s biggest seller in-waiting • Engine…

ILLUSTRATION: AERIFORM, GOOGLE MAPS 1 KITTING OUT COVENTRY Engineers are equipping a 41-mile loop between Coventry and Solihull with connected gantries and traffic lights, able to broadcast messages to the 100 cars in the trial. Soon, if you’re driving on the M40, M42, A46 and A45, you could be mixing it with connected cars, which could show epic commitment at traffic lights – because they know how long the lights will stay green 2 BEAM ME  IN, SCOTTY Gantry messages – about closed lanes or incident warnings – will be relayed by a bespoke software app, which flashes the info on a tablet display or the car’s screens. Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), broadcasting info at a frequency of 5.9 hertz every 10ms, is simple and reliable; but will 4G…

FORGET EVERYTHING you know about Lexus. It’s easily done as the LC500, the company’s new V8-powered 2+2 coupe, blips its throttle with a lycanthropic howl, as you lift to slow for a corner and the 10-speed automatic transmission downshifts, keeping the engine bang in its mid-range sweet spot. Line up the delicate steering – light-ish, precise – to carve yet another sweeping curve in Spain’s verdant Huelvan foothills. Press the throttle and start amping up the torque to the rear axle, which on range-topping Sports+ models features rear-wheel steering and a limited-slip differential. The LC feels distinctly rear-driven, feeding the power to the outer wheel to pivot the car into a bend. The revs climb, the red-tinged digital speedo flickers past 90, 100, 120kph, the lateral loads are harsh but…

The brief? A luxury saloon that can double as hardcore track car. Dial up Race mode and the E63 S is exactly that FRIENDS WOULD LAUGH at you and talk behind your back, wondering why you’d denied yourself the clever electronic rear differential and magnetic active engine mounts. Those alone would mean you’d never be able to show face in public again, but if you opt for the non-S version of AMG’s new E63 then you’d also have to settle for just 563bhp and a meagre 553lb ft of torque. So the E63 S it is then, its 603bhp and 627lb ft far more satisfying, the standard E63’s 3.5-second 0-62mph time so embarrassing slovenly the company didn’t even bring one along to the launch. The E63 S knocks a tenth…

FINALLY FINISHED PLAYING spot the difference with the facelifted Mk7.5 Volkswagen Golf? Here’s another subtle VW group product evolution to keep you busy. This time around it’s easier to excuse; the Seat Leon has always looked good and is certainly ageing well – those jagged headlights sweeping into sharp side creases wouldn’t look out of place on a military uniform. It’s no surprise then than the Spanish manufacturer has seasoned its hatchback recipe with restrained styling updates, new tech and updated engines, rather than just chucking in a load of garam masala and hoping for the best. External changes include a remodelled bumper and grille, plus LED headlights, front fog lights and indicators, depending on trim level. Inside there’s a new multimedia system, in 5- or 8-inch form, with a…

They don’t make ’em like that anymore VIA EMAIL Nick Dawson’s letter in your November 2016 issue helps explain the amazing 911 auction price story in the same article. Today’s new cars simply do not engage or challenge drivers any more. Like Mr. Dawson, I stepped off the new-car treadmill recently, finding the latest RS and M models too big, too remote, and too artificial. Instead, I spent six months tracking down a pristine, low-mileage 2007 B7 Audi RS4, which is small, powerful, and challenges me to drive well every time I start it up. Today’s mainstream performance cars are great to own but just not great to drive.…

‘Peugeot Sport took the fifth of its five overall Dakar victories in January 2016’ WE’RE SITTING JUST 200 yards from the Arc de Triomphe in a restaurant as comfortably Parisian as it is possible to be. Our companion for lunch is Bruno Famin, director of Peugeot Sport. Tomorrow, his 3008 DKR racers will be shipped to Paraguay, ahead of the 2017 Dakar rally raid, which starts on January 2. Once there, the cars and drivers will face a fortnight of abject misery, as Famin well knows. On the 350-mile second stage of day two on Dakar 2016, he recalls, in the middle of Argentina, the temperature was 55 degrees centigrade. Inside the car it was a mere 70 degrees. ‘The drivers were destroyed; [Stéphane] Peterhansel was very slow at the…

WAGENER IS EFFECTIVELY ONLY THE FIFTH DESIGN BOSS MERCEDES HAS EVER HAD Who is Gorden Wagener? Age 48 Current job Chief design officer, Daimler Education Essen University, London’s Royal College of Art Breakthrough design Mercedes SLK (2004) Latest design Mercedes EQ (2016) TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY Mercedes-Benz design is perhaps most memorable for being hard to remember; certainly not as special as many of the famous brand’s previous eras. In years to come will anyone sane collect examples of an early 2000s A-, B- or R-class for their exterior charms, or indeed get misty-eyed over the less than stellar aesthetic and functional qualities of that decade’s range of interiors? Doubtful. Compare any one of those cars with its current range though, from the rakish mk3 A-class – now a proper sporty hatchback attracting…

THERE’S NO HIDING from SUV territory any more. The doubters who hurled abuse at Porsche for selling out with the first Cayenne are now revelling in the success of a company saved from the dustbin, and rivals who stood on sidelines awaiting disaster were sent scurrying in search of a clean sheet of paper. The rules have changed. Maserati has spent the last two decades slowly stretching out its model range with the Ghibli and GranCabrio, but the Levante sees it entering entirely new territory. Whether the traditional Maserati buyer is interested in an SUV is something of a moot point, as even at the more expensive end of the scale it’s the booming market, taking over 50% of luxury car sales. If anything the Levante represents the most likely…

THE FORD FOCUS RS is at the vanguard of a new breed of four-wheel-drive turbocharged performance cars. With a computer-controlled drive system so clever it can seemingly pre-empt the driver’s every wish, it’s a hot-hatch game-changer. Rewind a decade or two and rally-inspired four-door supercar killers were taking over the world for the first time, as the Lancer/Impreza wars reached their zenith. Can the PlayStation 1 generation still deliver thrills to drag our attention away from Ford’s digitally enhanced wunderkind? This isn’t any old Evo we’ve brought along, but one of the breed’s high watermarks. In 1999, mumbling Finnish rally hero Tommi Mäkinen won his fourth back-to-back WRC title, and Mitsubishi launched an eponymous Evo VI edition to celebrate. An upgraded, more responsive turbo, 10mm lower suspension stiffened by an…

• SECOND-TIME around proved to be a sweet spot for the Cooper S, ironing out Mk1 teething problems with the switch to the 1.6-litre turbo engine and the irritating power-steering grumbles. It’s also quicker than the first-gen car, shaving 0.2sec to 62mph and is more frugal too. • TWEAKS FOR the Mk2 included a Sport button for the first time, which sharpened up accelerator and steering response. Cooper and Cooper S models were offered with the optional Sport pack, bringing stiffer springs and dampers, while the standard set-up was a little softer. • ONE OF the 1.6’s biggest headaches is failing timing chains, caused by a lack of oil. It can mean replacing the chain and tensioner. Quiz the owner about regular oil top-ups, which prevent the problem from getting…

Seriously good to drive Peugeot, Skoda, Seat: 2017 welcomes the laggard SUVs, and driving the Disco’s rivals highlights its abilities. The Sport’s steering is excellent – sweetly weighted, responsive, measured – the diesel engine competitive on punch, if a little coarse. A note on the Loire blue paint (£625): its metallic flake sparkles in the sun – wish we’d paid £520 for a two-tone roof though. Seriously awful infotainment The Sport’s teeny screen, glacial response time, clueless traffic intel and the binnacle’s ZX Spectrum-style graphics were off the pace at launch; newcomers like the 3008’s i-Cockpit and the Kodiaq’s capacitive touchscreens make it feel antiquated. Design chief Gerry McGovern says the big Disco’s customers want a more premium feel – same for its junior version, please! Welcome to row two…

CHRIS TEAGLES STOPPING POWER, on paper at least, is not something the i8 should lack. At the front you’ll find substantial 340mm ventilated discs, clamped by fixed four-piston calipers, while at the back there are similarly large 330mm vented discs and single piston floating calipers. Then there’s the regenerative braking effort produced by the hybrid BMW’s electric motor. While not as significant as the maximum regenerative assistance offered in the i3, it’s more than enough to provide a passable and easily judged alternative to conventional engine braking – which, with a paddle pull or two, you can also call into action. So, with the i8’s stout performance elsewhere lulling you into a false sense of security, you move out from a junction and stamp on the long-travel accelerator. The triple…

Have we met before? Super-subtle design changes hide physical differences; A-pillar is moved back, bonnet lower, and collapsible cowling between bonnet and windscreen all help pedestrian safety Street tough It might look the same but underneath the Fiesta is stronger, with 36% more boron steel, a new B-pillar design to deflect side-impact forces and 15% more torsional rigidity Inside I’m dancing Relief all round as the Fiesta gets the new cabin it so badly needs. Slick touchscreen is standard, better materials and lots more tech – but broadly the same amount of space GET USED TO the sight of this, the seventh-generation Fiesta unveiled for the first time at Ford’s huge Cologne manufacturing facility in Germany. The outgoing model has topped the UK sales charts since its first full year…

STEP INSIDE Interior design borrows Giulia architecture and infotainment but promises higher-grade materials (praise be) and a roomier, less cosy cockpit layout, as befits an SUV. Rear legroom still snug, mind TWO SIDES TO THE STELVIO Stelvio’s rear-biased awd and ex-Ferrari engineering team promise brilliance. Propshaft is carbonfibre, QF’s discs are ceramics. Does the sensible stuff too: 2.2-litre diesel four pot comes with 178bhp or 207bhp ALL THE STOPS, PULLED OUT Lightweight materials aim to take the contradiction out of the term ‘driver’s SUV’. Engine block, suspension parts, brake calipers, doors, wheelarches, bonnet and boot are all in aluminium BYE-BYE MACAN TURBO? Sparkling twin-turbo V6 from the hottest Giulia powers the Stelvio QF; clever torque vectoring will shift grunt to the rear tyre with the most grip. In the war…

• EQ IS our first electric car for the new generation of clean-fuel Mercedes-Benz cars. • WITHIN FIVE years we’ll have a whole family of EVs. By 2025, 15-25% of the Mercedes range will be fully electric. Add in PHEVs [plug-in hybrid electric vehicles], and they’ll make up 50% of our range. • THESE NEW cars are purpose-designed; they will not be existing cars. Our concept car at the Paris motor show was called Generation EQ because we wanted to say it’s a whole family coming. • THE MODEL you see here is very close to our first electric production car. You will see it in late 2018 and the price will be comparable to a top-end GLC. • WHY DO a mid-sized SUV first? Because this is one of…

THE NEW TRAPEZOIDAL grille Ford has punished the Kuga with certainly makes it a more distinctive proposition, and we guess that’s better than looking like someone inflated a Focus with a high-pressure air-hose. Following its facelift, this ugly mug now slots neatly between the mediocre Ecosport – a car that somehow disregards all of the endearing qualities of the Fiesta it’s based on – and the more-Amercian-than-meatloaf Edge. But more interesting than that is the latest trim on offer: ST-Line. Ford’s stopped short of offering an actual performance version of an already accomplished crossover, but this warmed-up effort isn’t without merit. One turn of the Focus-donated ‘wheel and you’ll notice the steering’s had work. A software reshu£le has the Kuga feeling dartier than Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, and that complements…

THIS IS PRETTY much as hot as the current rear-engined Twingo is going to get. There won’t be a full-fat RS version – predominantly because a larger, more powerful engine simply won’t fit – so this GT version, mildly microwaved by Renault Sport’s engineers, represents the high watermark for current-era Twingo performance. Apart from a shiny set of 17-inch alloys and optional go-slightly-faster decals, the main outward clue to the 898cc turbo engine’s 20bhp power hike (up to a cap-tip-worthy 108bhp) is a mini air intake above the left rear wheelarch, feeding cold air to the faster-spinning turbo, aided and abetted by upgraded water- and fuel pumps. A freer-breathing twin-tipped exhaust system helps, and manages a pleasantly bassy note. You feel the extra urge immediately, with credibly eager response throughout…

TOYOTA COULD have built a Qashqai clone like everyone else. Instead it’s turned up way beyond fashionably late to the family crossover party with the C-HR, which not only looks almost exactly like the original concept sketches, it features a roofline the GT86 would be proud of, more creases than an army barracks in Corby and has already been racing – not just testing – at the Nürburgring. If the RAV4 was worried about being replaced it can breathe a sigh of relief, though it might also want to update its wardrobe. Such visual extravagance may date quickly – and if you think the outside is loud wait till you see the electric blue and dark purple interior option – but for now it’s ideal as a statement of intent.…

1 A HIGH-OCTANE READ Recently spent a fantastic weekend at the Nürburgring. Great mates, great cars and the latest CAR. Probably the best 40th birthday ever. NEIL ROBSON 2 DEAD-COOL BEETLE Visited Mexico during The Day Of The Dead festival. Luckily blocks were in front of the tyres to stop this chap joyriding his Beetle! ALEX HALSEY 3 TICKET TO E-RIDE Waiting for the streetcar in Oranjestad, Aruba. These trams’ batteries are recharged solely from renewable sources. It’s part of a plan to be the first nation with a totally sustainable zero-carbon footprint, including all road vehicles by 2020. GAVIN HARRISON 4 DOPPLE BIMMER On my way back to Norway from the wonderful Solstrand Hotel, I came across this BMW 3-series pick-up with Touring trailer. PER EINAR OLSEN 5 MACAN…

THE MERCEDES E-CLASS laid down quite the marker when it launched earlier this year. Buyers got more space thanks to a 43mm longer body with an extra 65mm between the wheels; more power and better economy; a similarly giant leap in interior quality that we witnessed with the C-class; and there was tech galore, with a widescreen instrument display, autonomous lane-change capability, car-to-infrastructure communication and much more. Mercedes called it ‘the most intelligent business saloon’, and with some justification. Along with the refreshed C- and S-class, the new E has been a key weapon in Mercedes’ – likely successful – battle to overtake BMW for the global premium sales crown by the year’s end. Munich, clearly, has not taken this lightly. It’s been busily re-loading the arsenal in a product…

‘There are always significant features to Mercedes. The S-class has this graduated-width C-pillar which is fast but still has a lot of status. If you look at all our lines, they are very ‘fast’ [i.e. rakish]. Other brands’ lines are not. We also have a flow from the bonnet to the A-pillar and over the cabin to the rear. With all the others, their lines are pretty straight. Of course we have the grille too. The style was popularised on the very first SL, the 1952 racing car that competed in the Carrera Panamericana.’…

This time it was different. This time, we couldn’t belt up through France with our speedos on 160mph. This time, the gendarmes wouldn’t drink in the spectacle of a convoy of Lamborghinis howling past at imperious speed; they’d nab us. This time, there wouldn’t be three, there’d be seven. And where, in 1976, we went hell-for-leather from Sant’Agata Bolognese to London and were home in a day-and-a-half, this time we’d have six days on some of Europe’s best roads. The result, though, would be the same: an indelible set of memories spawned by driving Lamborghinis hard. Last time, it started with a phone call and culminated in a story called Convoy! I wrote for the February 1977 issue of CAR when I was editor. It told how four of us…

INTERVIEW BY JAMES TAYLOR, PHOTOGRAPHY SAM MOORES • 'FIRST IMPRESSION on start-up is extreme noise. It’s a 1989 car on straight pipes. without catalytic converters and with non-adjustable suspension, quite a desirable spec. It’s on 13,000 miles; how did someone own it so long and do so few miles?!’ • 'IT'SHAD an interesting history. It was once a white car with an LM bodykit. The original owner bought two F40s when they came out, one kept standard and one modified; this is the latter. I’ve put it back to original spec: wheels, suspension, body panels, interior. It’s had a lot of new ‘old’ parts, and been painted blue, which polarises opinion. I think it looks mega, but some Ferrari traditionalists feel it should be red.’ • 'I'VE DRIVEN it in…

ALEX TAPLEY THE EDGE IS proving a car of surprises already: sometimes literally, since it’s so big that things – and friends – you haven’t seen for a while occasionally pop out as you explore the car’s deeper recesses. And in the couple of weeks it’s been with us it’s managed to take a few people by surprise. Often they’ll admire its refreshingly svelte (for an SUV) fastback shape before being alarmed to discover it’s a Ford. Or they’ll be physically and mentally slouching into the robustly heated seats, visibly purring at the quality of the ride and the spacious accommodation, when you spot them double-taking at the blue oval on the steering wheel. Somewhere in Ford’s product planning department, you can smell the furious high-fiving. In the US the…

ALEX TAPLEY BOOT Deceptively small from the outside the Prius can swallow 502 litres of gubbins in the rear, few other hatches can. OPTIONS There aren’t any, other than rear-seat entertainment and Black or Chrome packs which won’t turn it into a beauty queen. Best skip ’em. INFO Excel spec means Toyota Touch 2 with Go navigation, JBL sound system, Wi-Fi and voice recognition. It’s not for the technophobe. WHEELS 17-inch wheels standard on Business Plus and Excel versions. A phonecall to TRD may be required. TAXING Buy now and it’s VED-free; buy from April 2017 onwards and it’s £100 in the first year. Sucky. ‘WELCOME TO CAR !’ said Phil the Editor. ‘And here’s your long-term Prius.’ Some paraphrasing may have taken place here, and…

FEW TEARS were shed when the XE drove off my driveway for the last time. I didn’t mourn the bare patch of pea-shingle it left, didn’t mentally drop my automotive flag to half mast, and didn’t look longingly at other XE models I saw in the weeks that followed its departure. This surprised me a great deal, because I really liked the little Jaguar. During the best part of a year, I loved walking up to it, thinking ‘My Jaaaag… tidy.’ I really enjoyed driving it, revelling in its pace and poise. And I liked the way it made me feel as an XE driver – a little bit special and privileged compared to common-as-muck BMW 3-series and Mercedes-Benz C-class drivers. So why no lachrymose farewell? Well, the more I…