Innholdsfortegnelse for November 13, 2019 i Autocar

IF EVER YOU wanted an example of how muddled UK law makers’ messages are towards car owners, look no further than Bristol City Council’s proposal to ban all diesel cars from 2021 (p21). The idea started with a very good intention: to clean up air quality. But Bristol City Council has failed to make the distinction between modern diesels and the older, more polluting models that have given the fuel its bad name. A modern diesel engine has to meet the latest Euro 6 standards so it emits not only less CO2 than a modern petrol engine but in many cases also less NOx and fewer particulates. So in cleaning up air quality, modern diesels are part of the solution, not the problem. And in failing to make the distinction…

McLaren has revealed the Elva, a 804bhp two-seat roadster with no windscreen, as its latest Ultimate Series model. The new machine, which was first revealed by Autocar in the summer, joins the P1, Senna and Speedtail in the range-topping model line and is limited to 399 examples, priced from £1,425,000 (including UK VAT). McLaren claims the rear wheel-drive Elva is the lightest road car it has ever produced. Powered by the firm’s 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, it is able to reach 62mph in “under three seconds” and has a claimed 0-124mph time of 6.7sec – faster than the track-focused Senna. The Elva name is taken from the East Sussex constructor whose chassis was used as the basis for McLaren’s M1A, M1B and M1C two-seat sports cars in the 1960s (see…

VOLKSWAGEN HAS ALSO released details and images of a new ID concept model that will enter production in late 2021. Set to be unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show next week, the ID Space Vizzion is effectively an estate version of the ID Vizzion large saloon that was first shown last year. The Space Vizzion is described as “a wagon of tomorrow that combines the aerodynamic characteristics of a Gran Turismo with the spaciousness of an SUV”. It makes use of an extended version of Volkswagen’s MEB electric platform, with the company promising that the concept will be capable of up to 367 miles on a single charge under the WLTP testing regime. Volkswagen claims that the car will feature a “completely digitised cockpit” alongside the use of sustainable…

FIAT CHRYSLER Automobiles (FCA) is the latest car maker to express an intent to move away from city cars – and its CEO has suggested this will happen “in the very near future”. The comments were made by Mike Manley on FCA’s third quarter earnings conference call to investors, when he expressed a desire to move these customers to the larger B-segment, where the Fiat Punto used to reside. He said: “In the very near future, you will see us refocus on this higher-volume, higher margin segment and that will involve a move away from the mini-car segment.” A number of brands, such as Ford and Vauxhall-Opel, have already exited the A-segment (city cars) and the Volkswagen Group is unlikely to replace the VW Up, Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo…

Skoda’s global best-seller, the Octavia, has been redesigned for its fourth generation, bringing in a range of new technology and the model’s first plug-in hybrid. Skoda calls the Octavia its “heart and engine” – more than six million have been produced since 1996 – and the new Mk4 version is said to build on the existing car’s strengths with more interior space, better functionality and higher levels of safety and comfort. It’ll go on sale in hatchback and estate forms in the second half of 2020, with customer deliveries starting soon after. The Octavia’s exterior design has been brought into line with Skoda’s latest non-SUV models, the Scala and updated Superb. The front end takes inspiration from the Scala, with the old car’s split headlight design ditched in favour of…

Climate change has become an overarching global issue and the need to reduce CO2 emissions to halt global warming is now (largely) accepted as scientific fact. And there’s no escaping that the car industry is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. For example, the Volkswagen Group estimates that, through its operations and the cars it has made, it is responsible for around 1% of the world’s total carbon emissions. It might sound audacious, even somewhat hypocritical, to hear industry bosses say they want to take the lead in cutting CO2 emissions. But that’s exactly what Volvo boss Håkan Samuelsson did at the recent launch of the XC40 Recharge, the firm’s first electric car. “Despite decades of political climate summits and very bold emission targets, CO2 levels are still increasing,” said…

There’s an odd sense of amusement that comes from reminding yourself that the official, technical name for Toyota’s C-HR crossover is the ‘Coupé High-Rider’. It’s the sort of slightly clunky yet strangely endearing name only a Japanese car maker could be expected to come up with. Quirky name aside, however, the European-developed Turkish-built car has gone on to do pretty good things for Toyota since its 2016 launch. Across the UK and the Continent, more than 400,000 have been sold, with 50,000 of those cars finding homes in Britain. In fact, it has helped Toyota account for nearly 40% of the UK’s entire ‘alternatively fuelled vehicle’ market – provided your definition of ‘alternatively fuelled’ is flexible enough to include regular old hybrids. Anyway, the C-HR has now been facelifted for…

Diesel is one reason we’ve generally given Lexus hybrids a lukewarm reception. The truth is that an equivalent diesel model has typically been faster, more engaging and more readily capable of better economy. But oil-burner sales are plummeting and nowhere else does that have more of an effect than in premium large SUVs. This Lexus, then, should be the car of the moment. While other makers scurry to make plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) – models capable of impressive economy but only if kept charged via a socket – the posh arm of Toyota has soldiered on with its proven parallel-hybrid set-up, which it dubs ‘self-charging’. To raise the appeal further, the RX has received an update that includes mild chassis revisions and a redesign for the front and rear bumpers, a…

VERDICT The BMW X4 M Competition demonstrates just how challenging the process of crafting an effective, likeable performance SUV can be. If the niche’s current incumbents show one thing, it’s that there’s no one route to success. The Jaguar F-Pace SVR stands out for its ability to combine pile-driving V8 character and poise in a comfortable everyday package. An Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is far more unforgiving but its agility lends it a distinct charm and appeal all of its own. The X4 M, however, doesn’t possess an obvious endearing trait that justifies its shortcomings; it does plenty well enough but nothing to truly stand out. Its engine is effective, if a little flat on character. The chassis is agile at a superficial level but fails to feel particularly composed…

Formula 1 bosses have finally unveiled new technical rules for 2021, with cars getting a new look designed to reduce aerodynamic grip. Combined with an increase in mechanical grip, F1 chiefs believe the rules will lead to cars that can follow each other more closely, enhancing the quality of the racing. The current 1.6-litre turbo-hybrid engines will continue to power F1, albeit with new regulations to limit the use of expensive materials and cut costs. …and it’s going to be cheaper, too F1 chiefs have also overhauled the off-track regulations, increasing the number of races allowed on the calendar to 25 and introducing a cost cap of $175 million (£135m). That cap, which will vary in size depending on the number of races run in a season, is designed to…

“He never stops pushing for performance. He is very self-critical” The greatest British sports star? There are plenty of contenders. Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. Four-time Olympic champion distance runner Mo Farah. Swimmer Adam Peaty, an Olympic champion, eight-time world champion and double world record holder. Gymnast Max Whitlock is a double Olympic champion and three-time world champion. Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan is a five-time world champion. Andy Murray is a three-time tennis Grand Slam winner and double Olympic champion. There’s world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson. England rugby captain Owen Farrell – one of the best players in the world; Raheem Sterling is one of the best footballers. Golfer Rory McIlroy and many more. And then there is Lewis Hamilton. Six-time Formula 1 world champion and winner of…

We are surrounded by elegance. Ladies in Edwardian dresses, gentlemen in tweed. Only Duncan Pittaway is letting the side down. Yes, he is wearing a shirt and tie but the man is absolutely filthy. Dirty face, black hands, shirt no longer white. But then he has spent most of the day shovelling coal into the firebox of his 1896 Salvesen steam car. “We have to stop every 12 miles for water,” explains Pittaway, “which we pinch from fire hydrants.” Which is true because I’ve seen him watering his machine as we’ve rumbled past in our 1904 Lanchester. I can’t believe I haven’t taken part in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run before. I haven’t even watched the start in Hyde Park or the finish in Brighton. Many friends and…

Few cars make the transition from road to race car with their character entirely intact and the Ford GT is no exception, but given it was designed to go racing in the first place, the two versions are closer than most. Driving the road-going variant of, say, a BTCC or GTE car wouldn’t be that much use as a familiarisation process, but the GT might actually be useful. The driving environment is one big difference. The road GT is cosy but the race car brings another level of intimidation, until you’re comfortable with the ergonomics and by how little room to move there is, which doesn’t take long. The road car has brilliant dampers that give it an eerily good ride, with adjustable ride height that slams itself on the…

SPECIAL FEATURE Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2019 – 30th anniversary special This year’s best driver’s cars return to Anglesey Circuit and the surrounding roads to compete for the McLaren 600LT’s crown REVEALED Aston Martin DBX Official pics and details of the most radical Aston Martin ever FIRST PICS New Skoda Octavia The all-new Octavia revealed in full. Everything you need to know EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Kia Xceed Kia’s Ceed hatchback gets the soft-roader treatment. We rate it USED BUYING GUIDE Audi RS3 Eight years ago, Audi’s RS arm built its smallest car. Here’s how to buy one FIRST DRIVE Seat Mii Electric Seat’s made an electric car for the first time. So how good is it? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p24…

MILEAGE 6722 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To discover how deploying the premium EV’s mighty acceleration dovetails with preserving its electric range We’re used to software updates on our smartphones and computers, but they are now entering the car world, too. Our I-Pace has just had a software update that has made a colossal difference in one crucial area: battery range. Before it was showing 201 miles when you’d get in the car after a full charge, but now it shows 252. That is like getting a 25% bigger fuel tank fitted to your car, and feels transformative in the way you can use it by getting rid of some of that latent range anxiety. The psychological difference between 200 and 250 miles is massive. I haven’t driven anywhere further than…

Jaguar S-Type Julian at Balance Motorsport has shared this astounding S-Type project with us: “Japanese car fans would be horrified at the home the Civic Type R seats have found themselves in. The V6 has an incredibly broad power range and will pull from 1000rpm right up to 7000rpm. Due to a modified exhaust and air intake, it sounds a bit like a Ferrari GTO when driven hard. The eventual aim is to add a light pressure turbo and some aero appendages. It weighs 1400kg and we have more weight reduction planned.” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES TO ✉ james@bangernomics.com AND READERS' QUESTIONS TO ✉ autocar@haymarket.com…

Land Rover is preparing to extend its model line-up in two bold directions over the next five years. The first will bring back the long discussed entry-level Land Rover into the company’s cycle plan and the second is a new, more sporting, luxury version of the new Defender. With an expected target price of around £25,000, the new entry-level five-door model will be cheaper in real terms than any previous Land Rover model. Believed to be codenamed L860, it is expected to arrive in 2021. Meanwhile, the luxurious, fourth model in the Defender line-up (imagined by Autocar on the next page) is said to be a full four years away from being unveiled. It is expected to make its debut as a pure electric model with sharper and leaner styling…

Cupra is unlikely to build a bespoke sports car in the foreseeable future, with CEO Luca de Meo telling Autocar it will focus on SUVs. “You want roadsters, two-seaters, cabrios? This is a typical perspective from your [British] market,” said de Meo. “We don’t get that question from other markets… sometimes from Germans.” He elaborated by saying: “SUVs are called sports utility vehicles because they represent a new concept of sportiness. These kinds of things, SUVs with a coupé look, this is what for us was the two-door – an impractical coupé you could barely fit in, but it was fast, the handling was amazing because of a low centre of gravity etc. These things are gone.” De Meo said the argument about building a sports car is an emotional…

Growth in the UK’s public electric car charger network will come from dedicated charger companies, utilities and the government, rather than car makers, an Autocar investigation has concluded. Apart from the Ionity rapid-charging network, which is funded by a consortium of nine car makers, very few if any of the 60-plus car brands operating in the UK are funding charging infrastructure to speed up the adoption of electric cars. “We consider it is up to private network operators and the government,” said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. At the recent launch of the Peugeot e-208, Carlos Tavares, boss of the PSA Group that owns Peugeot, made it clear that PSA does not see charging networks as a core business, even though uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) like…

KIA HAS UNVEILED a new electrically powered concept called the Futuron, which provides a glimpse of its future SUV design direction. Unveiled at the China International’s Import Expo in Shanghai, it’s a style-oriented two-door SUV with a coupé like roofline. At 4.85m long, it’s comparable in length with Audi’s E-tron and Jaguar’s I-Pace, but the roofline is lower even than the Jaguar’s. Kia says the design features a new evolution of its ‘tiger nose’ grille theme, expanded to create a ‘tiger face’. The front end also uses moveable ‘scales’ to alternate between daytime-running lights and full-beam headlights. The diamond-shaped panoramic glasshouse is said to be inspired by “UFO and flying saucer design”. Powertrain specs are unconfirmed, beyond Kia’s claim that it features a high capacity battery pack and four electric…

The Hyundai Ioniq goes one further than its Toyota Prius rival in offering a fully electric model alongside hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. This revised Ioniq Electric brings with it a larger battery (up from 28kWh to 38kWh) and a more efficient electric motor to increase the range by some 30% to a claimed 194 miles. On first acquaintance after a full charge on a cold day, our Ioniq showed 171 miles of range, and that proved to be a true figure and more than enough for the commuter driving and routes the Ioniq is best suited to. When that range is depleted, the revised Ioniq Electric is faster to replenish than before thanks to an upgraded charging system. Performance is brisk but not unruly in the way Hyundai’s other…

1 JAGUAR F-PACE SVR Bombastic supercharged V8 in a package you really can use for any trip. Mixes excitement, luxury and utility very skilfully. 2 PORSCHE MACAN TURBO New 2.9-litre version picks up where the physics-defying 3.6 left off. Incredible handling but lacks some space and soul. 3 ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QUADRIFOGLIO Goes large on pace and sporting attitude to striking effect. Would be testing to live with. Likeable. 4 MERCEDES-AMG GLC 63 S The most rabid kid in class has explosive punch but lacks roundedness and dynamic finesse. Particularly noisy ride. 5 BMW X4 M COMPETITION A respectable effort, but would need more pace, versatility, charm or handling appeal to force its way higher in this order.…

I’m sitting in a McLaren 720S in Gulf blue with the same oil company’s trademark orange used for stitching inside the cabin. It is the best-looking McLaren I’ve ever seen. This is how I see McLaren’s cars: the thinking man’s saloon is a Saab, his luxury car a Bristol and his supercar a McLaren. It is a wonderfully bull-free brand and that’s reflected in the car itself. No knobs and buttons on the steering wheel – the component is simply there to guide the car through probably the best steering system in any sports car made today. And McLaren calls the people who buy its cars customers, not clients. I collected the car from the Autocar road testers’ secret bunker in Feltham. I drove the new McLaren GT a few…

Range Rover Sport 3.0 TD V6 HSE £11,795 The big Range Rover Sport is gaining an unfortunate image as a bit of a geezer’s special, so it’s with some trepidation that we’re pushing ourselves to the head of the queue for one. Not a smoky old has-been, mind, but a bright, facelifted 2010-reg example with 75,000 miles, full service history and the later, more efficient 3.0-litre diesel engine that makes a useful 237bhp. It’s in HSE guise, which, granted, means more to go wrong, but in a car this size we’re willing to take that gamble in return for the rear parking sensors and rear-view camera. It’s got Terrain Response, too, which takes the sweat out of off-roading. All this and it also has air suspension, which does so much…

Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TSI R Price £10,995 The one thing that stands between the Scirocco Mk3 and classic-car greatness is the fact that it lasted eight years – time enough for thousands of them to roll off the production line. Even so, chances are that neglect, emissions regulations and accidents will see off many of them, until we’re left with just a handful of petrols in Viper green, the best colour. Based on the Golf Mk5, today it feels like a crude old thing, especially on larger wheels, but it looks as fresh as the day it was first revealed – and it always will.…

The Subaru Impreza gets all the attention, but in the mid-noughties more mature enthusiasts, put off by that model’s hard-charging image, might have been tempted by the larger Legacy 3.0R Spec B, in saloon and estate forms, instead. It was launched in 2004 but here we’re interested in the facelifted version of 2006, because there are more for sale and they were usefully improved. Interior quality took a big leap, the optional five-speed automatic gained paddle shifts and a new drive mode system, called SI-Drive, was introduced. The grille and head and tail-lights were smartened up while the car gained a more purposeful, sophisticated look thanks to delicately bulging wheel arches, an inoffensive roof-mounted spoiler and indicators integrated into the door mirrors. Alloys became smart 18in, 10-spoke affairs that still…

An owner’s view MARK HARRIS “I’ve had my Legacy 3.0R Spec B estate for nine years. My wife was against an Impreza so I bought the next best thing. It’s a 2006 auto and with 173,000 miles. It’s been extremely reliable. I’m fussy and change the oil every 7000 miles, and the gearbox and diff oils every two years. The engine is bulletproof. I was told Subaru turned down the power so the Impreza wasn’t overshadowed, so it’s fairly unstressed. I’m the one suffering stress: road tax is £500 and economy rarely goes above 25mpg.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE Check for leaks from the front timing chain case and the lower part of the engine. Misfires may be due to the most inaccessible pair of spark plugs not having been…

Volkswagen is set to use the GTX name on a range of electric-powered ID performance models, high-ranking sources at the German car maker have confirmed to Autocar. The new nomenclature, already trademarked by Volkswagen, has been chosen for a number of ID models, including a production version of the Crozz coupé, which is likely to take the name ID 5 GTX in its most powerful guise. The GTX title follows tradition at Volkswagen, which also uses the GTI, GTD and GTE names on performance-oriented petrol, diesel and plugin hybrid models respectively. Volkswagen won’t confirm when the first GTX model is planned for launch, though Autocar has been told that development of a performance version of the ID 5 is ongoing at the company’s Braunschweig R&D centre in Germany and likely…

ONE OF THE many technologies that’s still on the back burner but could contribute to lower fuel consumption and emissions while squeezing a tad more power from petrol engines is water injection. It stirred up a lot of interest back in 2016 when BMW introduced it on the fabulously excessive M4 GTS, but its use in recent years has been confined mainly to more extreme motorsports such as drag racing. Injecting water into the engine does a number of things. One is that it cools the combustion chamber as well as the incoming air, whereas an intercooler only does the latter. Reducing the temperature inside the combustion chamber reduces the threshold at which detonation (knock) occurs, so it’s possible to run higher boost and more advanced ignition timing before knock…

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The combination of Jeep and pick-up makes such obvious sense that it’s a surprise to realise there hasn’t been one since 1992, when the Cherokee-based Comanche died in the US. But we have one now, the Gladiator, and it’s pretty much exactly what it looks like: an extended pick-up version of the recently launched JL-generation Wrangler that is on sale in the US and set to come to Europe next year. With the need to accommodate a truck bed and a cabin that has two rows of seats, it is huge. The Gladiator’s 5540mm length makes it 658mm longer than the five-door Wrangler – that’s also 142mm longer than the Ford Ranger Raptor – and it sits on a bridge-like wheelbase of 3487mm. Yet amazingly, the Gladiator is still only…

MODEL TESTED X4 M COMPETITION Price £80,110 • Power 503bhp • Torque 443lb ft • 0-60mph 4.0sec • 30-70mph in fourth 6.7sec • Fuel economy 23.3mpg • CO2 emissions 239g/km • 70-0mph 44.4m The subject of this week’s road test is unlikely to stir your soul in the manner of M division’s former glories. At the same time, for BMW’s niche-filling product strategists, it would have been an irresistible project. In 2018, four years after the original X4 hit our roads as an X6 downsized in both dimensions and cost, the second-generation model was introduced, and as of September, year-to-date sales have grown by more than 40%. Be in no doubt: outside enthusiast circles, there is an appetite for high-riding coupés with a similar footprint to mid-sized executive saloons. No self-respecting…

The game of dynamic high stakes played by makers of performance SUVs might seldom present itself to a driver in everyday use, but drive the X4 M to its limits somewhere like the Millbrook’s Hill Route and you can’t fail to notice it. It comes across as a sense that this car, like certain rivals, has a little too much agility, lateral grip and body control for its own good, and so it can be quite highly strung, unpredictable and a little unstable with its electronic aids disabled. There’s no shortage of keenness about the way it changes direction and no meagreness about the way it holds the road or supports its mass. Pour on power mid-corner and the driveline throws the lion’s share of torque at the rear axle.…

If anything encapsulates the madness of Ruf Automobile GmbH, it’s a Porsche 550 Spyder hovering six feet above the red-tiled workshop floor. The rear portion of its tiny fibreglass shell has been stripped away to show the tubular chassis, but where you’d expect to find a 1498cc flat four with double overhead cams, there’s only fresh air. This being Ruf, all is not what it seems. The disc brakes and coilover suspension aren’t period, so I’m prepared when engineer Rafael Riethmüller tells me one of the company’s 4.1-litre flat-six Mezger engines is waiting to be installed. There follows a moment of silence, broken by an expletive. More than 400bhp in a car weighing 550kg with a chassis designed from the early 1950s isn’t so much eccentric as psychotic. But Ruf…

For five days in November, the rallying clock will be turned back 40 years and more when the Roger Albert Clark Rally relives a golden era of Britain’s biggest rally. The modern Wales Rally GB, Britain’s round of the current World Rally Championship, is a long way removed from the old RAC Rally that filled the forests with fans in the 1970s and 1980s, when Roger Clark was the home-grown hero. The modern Rally GB remains an incredible spectacle, with the best cars and drivers in the sport, but for those who hanker for the good old days, the Roger Albert Clark Rally is the big one. For five days, the forest tracks of Wales, Northumberland and southern Scotland will echo to the bark of BDG-powered Ford Escort Mk2s, Opel…

They wanted to use a Mustang originally, you know. Ford, which won Le Mans outright in 1966 with the GT40, thought it would be lovely to return there, 50 years later, and win again. Senior Ford people reckoned that a Mustang, entered in the road-car-based GTE category, would be the perfect ‘halo’ global sports car to make a splash. Trouble is, the Mustang is sufficiently big that it was once described on these pages, by a colleague with a sharper grasp of similes than me, as a car that “straddles British driveways like a killer whale stranded on a toilet cistern”. And killer whales don’t make very good race cars because their large frontal area creates more drag. There are race regulations to partially offset this: endurance racing series employ…

Happy motorway memories ‘The 185mph M1 slayer returns’ (30 October) brought back happy memories of that time. I held a driver’s licence in 1958 when the Preston bypass (later a section of the M6) was openeded and enjoyed driving on it and on the M1 when it was opened the following year. It is true to say that many cars on the road in those times were unsuitable for high-speed travel, but there were many that were – our Mark VII Jaguar among them. It was enjoyable motoring, especially as traffic was light. Drivers learned the art of restraint, too: when one could go fast in safety and when one should not. I passed my police Class 1 Advanced Driving Course in many fast cars, including Mark 2 Jaguar 3.8…

MILEAGE 4200 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out how much closer to GTI territory Renault Sport has moved its Mégane hot hatch and whether the cheapest one may also be the sweetest For the past few months, the road test desk’s Mégane RS 280 has been on strict road-only duties – a situation that Richard Lane, Matt Saunders and I all agreed needed rectifying quick smart. And so in late October, the Renault set out from London and began the long drive up to North Wales and the spectacular Anglesey Circuit. Admittedly, the official reason for this trip was so it could act as a support car for our annual Britain’s Best Driver’s Car shootout, which you’ll be reading about next week. But ulterior motives are often far more…

MILEAGE 104,462 PORSCHE CAYENNE Here you go – the Flying Pig lives to spend yet another year climate-changing the planet with its marginal fuel consumption. It sailed through the MOT with zero advisories, which is what you want with a massively complicated car like this. I asked my garage to do a minor service, so that was just oil and filters, but including the roadworthiness check it still came to £200. Never mind, that’s Porsche life. Also part of that life is making a trip to a Porker main dealer for some recall work. It’s a half-day adventure for me and I’ll tell you about the Flying Pig’s progress very soon.…

The Ford Focus is so familiar and, to an extent, so respected, that it’s like legal tender on the used car market. The generation under discussion here is the Mk3 – but with a twist, since we’re looking at the facelifted car launched in 2014. To its credit, where some manufacturers might be content with a set of sparkly LEDs for their mid-life update, Ford went further with the Focus, cramming in more driver assistance tech, a new touchscreen media system within a revised interior and a new engine line-up. It even found space for a larger centre cubby. However, for all its efforts, the cabin still looks and feels a rung below the Volkswagen Golf’s. Still, that’s fine because the Focus delights in other ways, not least its keener…

PORSCHE 944 TURBO Prices of Porsche 944 Turbos are creeping north, with £16,000 and beyond being the going rate for the best cars. They’re not necessarily light on miles at this money and the 944 was never one for the heated garage. Instead, condition, service history and provenance mark out the higher-priced examples. Cast around and you can snag a bargain, such as the 1986 D-reg example that sold for £12,833. It had done 127,000 miles but boasted 26 service stamps. It scored four out of five stars on the auctioneer’s condition report, too.…