Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2, 2020 i Autocar

Once, it hardly mattered how a Rolls-Royce handled as long as it was soft-riding and quiet, but those days are long gone. It was something Ghost engineering boss Jon Simms was keen to demonstrate at the end of my viewing of the new car, by taking to the road in an extravagantly disguised prototype. Collecting the car from Goodwood’s super-secret prototype department, I stepped through the rear-hinged coach door (which had been silently opened by an electric motor) and settled into the sumptuous rear seat. Off we drove, up the Goodwood Hill and north towards Midhurst, before returning on small roads for a bit of high-speed stuff on the coastal M27. The car is amazingly quiet. You don’t hear separate impulses or vibes from the engine – just a faint…

HYUNDAI HAS REVAMPED its Kona crossover for 2021, ushering in a new look inside and out, adding mild hybrid powertrain technology and introducing a performance inspired N Line range-topper. A substantially redesigned front end incorporates thinner LED daytime running lights, an extended bonnet, a new grille design and a contrasting silver skidplate, while the rear end has been updated with new brake light designs and a contrasting lower bumper. The new Kona is 40mm longer overall than before as a result. Inside, there’s now ambient lighting, coloured speaker and vent surrounds, a raft of new colour and material options and a new electronic handbrake. The new Kona N Line swaps the standard car’s contrasting cladding for a sporty bodykit and gains a distinctive trio of air intakes at the front.…

THE SECOND-GENERATION Fiat 500 will stay on sale for several years to come and has no end date for production, so it will be sold alongside the all-new, third-generation 500. The new 500 will reach the UK in January and is electric-only. The current 500 has just been updated with a mild-hybrid petrol powertrain and remains a huge seller for Fiat, shifting more than 190,000 units for the first time in each of the past three years despite now being a 13-year-old design. Dropping the current model for an electric-only car would result in a huge drop in sales for Fiat. Although electric cars are gaining in popularity across Europe, they’re doing so at wildly different rates in different countries and remain a fraction of sales compared with conventionally powered…

Porsche’s executive flagship, the Panamera, has gained two new powertrains, updated technology, chassis upgrades and a refreshed exterior design as part of a mid-life overhaul. The most significant news is the introduction of a new top-spec Turbo S variant and a third plug-in hybrid. The Turbo S replaces the Turbo model of the outgoing car, uprating the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 from 542bhp to 621bhp. Torque has increased by 37lb ft to 605 lb ft. The result is a quoted 0-62mph time of 3.1sec – a big improvement on the 3.6sec quoted for the Turbo with the Sport Chrono Package. Top speed rises from 190 to 196mph. The new Turbo S is claimed to have set a new Nürburgring lap record for executive cars, its 7min 29.81sec lap beating the 2018…

1 Changan UK R&D Centre Location Birmingham Actvities Engine and transmission design, research and development Employs 200 people 2 LEVC Location Ansty, Coventry Activities HQ, engineering and taxi and van manufacture Production capacity 20k/yr Employs 550 people 3 Geely Design Location Coventry Activities Advanced and production car design Employs 100 people 4 MG Motor UK (SAIC) Location Marylebone, Activities HQ, sales, aftersales and advanced design Employs 100 people 5 SAIC Motor Technical Centre Location Longbridge, Birmingham Activities Engineering Employs 50 people 6 Nio UK Advanced Engineering Centre Location Beabroke Science Park, Oxford Activities Advanced concept engineering and CAE crash testing Employs 45 people 7 Lotus Location Hethel Activities HQ, engineering, design and car manufacture Production capacity 5k/yr Employs 1150 people 8 Lotus Location Wellingborough Activity Anodising alloy structures Employs 50…

The Mk2 Golf GTE has a lot to live up to. The 2014 original set the standard for front-wheel-drive, plug-in hybrid hatchbacks, using the same petrol-electric powertrain as the Audi A3 e-tron but benefiting from a longer list of equipment and being priced much more agreeably. The new model continues down the same engineering path: it’s positioned as an eco alternative to the Golf GTI, with a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine and an electric motor working through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. With a new 13kWh battery (up from 9kWh in the old car), it also offers an extra 7.5 miles of electric-only range. That might not sound like much, but Volkswagen says the GTE’s real-world range is significantly better, due to greater efficiency in the motor and regenerative…

MODEL TESTED 2.0 TDI 150 SE L FIRST EDITION DSG Price £29,515 • Power 148bhp • Torque 266lb ft • 0-60mph 8.4sec • 30-70mph in fourth 9.6sec • Fuel economy 51.0mpg • CO2 emissions 128g/km • 70-0mph 47.6m Simple, rational, value-packed appeal has, to date, driven the sale of more than six million examples of the Skoda Octavia since the modern iteration of the car was introduced in 1996. Even after the swelling of the Czech company’s model range with city cars, crossovers and a seven-seat SUV in recent years, this practical, sensible family liftback, together with the related estate version, remains the keystone around which its maker’s growth has been built over the past 25 years. It has, at times, accounted for as much as a third of all the…

Skoda’s vRS-badged performance models have in the past proved to be decently effective point-to-point machines, but the best we can say about this more anodyne example is that you’re unlikely to run into much trouble – or excitement – while you’re behind the wheel. It lapped the Hill Route at Millbrook with exactly the sort of joyless stability you’d expect of a utilitarian estate, generating good grip from its Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres but with every direction change laced with some degree of understeer. Beyond the car’s natural meter, float then becomes an issue because of the soft springing, while the engine note becomes notably uncouth under load at higher revs. Overall, it’s enough to leave us convinced that anyone hoping for something quietly satisfying to drive should still look…

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Plenty of stories about great car heroes turn out to be based on sand, but the one about Ian Callum finding his future career with his six-year-old nose pressed against the showroom window of the Edinburgh Jaguar dealership, Rossleighs, most definitely isn’t. His indulgent grandfather had taken him 80 miles from home in Dumfries just to see the extraordinary new E-Type sports car – and the rest is history. That experience famously encouraged 14-year-old Callum to write to Jaguar boss Bill Heynes, who politely and correctly suggested he study design. Callum still has the letters and eventually followed the advice, finding a variety of car design jobs after graduation and eventually progressing to the top design job at Jaguar – where he not only redesigned every model, some several times,…

“The W16 engine effortlessly catapults the Divo from corner to corner” Decades before Bugatti launched an assault on the top-speed crown, it proved its mettle by winning five consecutive editions of the Targa Florio road race in Sicily. Albert Divo gave the French company its last two victories in 1928 and 1929, an achievement the brand honoured in 2018 by putting his name on an evolution of the Chiron developed with a focus on handling. It’s fitting, then, that I drove one of the 40 units planned (and already sold) on part of the historic Targa Florio route. Heritage is the main link between Divo’s triumphant Type 35 and the Divo I’m driving on the narrow, olive grove-lined roads separating the abandoned Floriopoli tribune from the town of Cerda. Stylists…

Takuma Sato wins Indy 500 Former Formula 1 racer Takuma Sato claimed his second Indianapolis 500 win the weekend before last. Driving for Bobby Rahal’s Honda-powered team, Sato fended off Scott Dixon after using pit strategy to take the lead in the closing stages. British driver Jack Harvey came a solid ninth. Party time is over in F1 F1 teams will be banned from using engine maps that give extra power – nicknamed ‘party modes’ – in qualifying from this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, after a ruling by the sport’s bosses. The move is designed to try to reduce Mercedes-AMG’s dominance in the Saturday sessions. Japanese youngster set to join AlphaTauri Japanese Formula 2 racer Yuki Tsunoda is likely to join AlphaTauri “sooner or later”, according to team boss Franz…

I read your article on Vauxhall’s Griffin House (‘Behind the Griffin’s door’, 29 July), or AJ Block as it used to be known, with a degree of nostalgia. In the early 1970s, I was a General Motors student apprentice and spent much of my time working there on the engineering side between university terms. One summer, I was seconded to the head of engine advanced design as an intern. My project was a competitive assessment of existing 16v-head engines to help design one for a Mk2 High Performance Firenza. Triumph Dolomitemite Sprint and Ford BDA engines featured strongly, but the project never came to anything. At that time, GM in the US was exploring Wankel engines. It had set up a pilot plant and shipped a container full of engines…

MILEAGE 21,460 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the all-American icon translates over here, especially as a new all-British icon arrives… The more time I spend with the Jeep Wrangler, the more I’m enjoying it. You’ll see from p38 that it has gone head to head with the new Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-BenzG-Class and emerged with its head high. You can read just how good it is as a 4x4 on those pages. But just as nice as the day spent larking about in a quarry was, for me, leaving the front two targa roof panels off for the long drive home, windows down, trying to blow some of the dust from the interior, in bright evening sunshine. I’d have had an even better time if I’d taken…

MILEAGE 103,517 MINI COOPER I’m a colossally incompetent vehicle custodian sometimes. I’ve been putting off sorting my Mini’s ill-fitting driver’s door, which can probably be traced back to the BMC era. Also, it’s more difficult to rehang a door on your own. It helps to have an extra pair of hands. So while my daughter did the heavy lifting, I undid all the screws and then did them up again. Afterwards, I also mucked about with the door strike plate. It was all worth it. The door now shuts more snugly than it has since 1964. Pity about the scraped paintwork, though – something else I will have to make some time for.…

Not everyone can afford a pricey new electric car, no matter how much less it would cost to fuel. Some of us instead have to wait for depreciation to take its toll, and that’s where early examples of the second-generation Nissan Leaf come in. Here’s a car that provides all of the practicality of a family hatchback and plenty of modern safety technology, and since the Leaf remains one of the most popular EVs, there are loads of second-hand examples for sale. You can find a well-specified, mid-range 2018 Leaf for £20,000 or so – a substantial saving of around £7000 compared with the list price of a new one. There are two motor/battery combinations: the standard Leaf uses a 40kWh pack and a 148bhp motor, while the pricier Leaf…

“The Ghost bristles with engineering refinements to reduce noise” Rolls-Royce has unveiled an all-new, second generation version of the most successful car in its history: the Goodwood-built Ghost saloon. The new model ditches the BMW 7 Series-derived underpinnings of the original car in favour of the latest flexible aluminium spaceframe already used for the Phantom and Cullinan. Billed as a “slightly smaller, less ostentatious means of owning a Rolls-Royce” than the Phantom, the new Ghost is 90mm longer than its predecessor, at 5549mm, and 30mm wider. It’s powered by a specially adapted version of the 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 introduced with the Cullinan, replacing the outgoing model’s 6.6-litre unit but offering unchanged power (563bhp) with 10% more peak torque, up to 627lb ft. With a commensurate entry price of £208,000 before…

Peugeot’s 3008 compact SUV has been brought into line with its newer 208, 2008 and 508 stablemates with an updated design, upgraded interior technology and a new plug-in hybrid powertrain. Chief among the styling tweaks is a new front end with a frameless grille, reshaped air intakes and the brand’s new vertically orientated LED daytime running lights, which also function as the indicators. The model number has also been applied above the grille for the first time. The more subtly restyled rear end gains LED brake and reversing lights, sequential indicators and a smoked light cover, which has been extended across the bootlid to “visually widen” the car. Inside, the 3008 is now more closely linked to newer Peugeot models with the introduction of the brand’s latest i-Cockpit interior layout.…

Mercedes-Benz has shown the next-generation SL in official prototype shots ahead of its unveiling next year. Pictured in typical testing camouflage, the Porsche 911 Cabriolet rival exhibits a family resemblance to the Mercedes-AMG GT. In fact, the new SL is being developed alongside the next-generation GT – itself due in 2022 – by AMG and shares the same MSA platform. Set to be revived as a lighter, faster and more engaging model than its predecessor, the Mercedes-AMG SL will be offered as a soft-top roadster only and is expected to go on sale here toward the end of 2021. Autocar understands the range will begin with an SL 53, putting out around 430bhp from a turbocharged in-line six-cylinder engine, with a hybridised version, dubbed the SL 53e, also available. A…

IN A WORLD where cars have become so fiendishly complex, one key component of suspension systems still stands out for its relative simplicity. The anti-roll bar (known over the pond as a sway bar or stabiliser bar and not to be confused with a roll cage, which gives protection if the car inverts) is there to inhibit body roll in corners. In its purest form, it’s a length of spring steel bar or tube, shaped like a square U, connecting to the suspension at each end of the axle. Some cars have two (front and rear axle), some just one and a few none at all. The idea of an anti-roll bar is to reduce body roll as the car corners independently and without significantly affecting the stiffness (rates) of…

This new Fiat 500 looks fantastic, doesn’t it? It’s only the third ground-up 500 created by Fiat in 63 years, and the design team behind it deserve as hearty a pat on the back as the team behind its 1957 and 2007 predecessors. Bellissimo, one might even say. Job done, others might, given how looks are the chief reason so many will purchase the 500 anyway. In its 13 years on sale, the second iteration has never sold more than in each of the past three years – remarkable, given how dated it has become to drive and feel inside. This time, though, it’s a very different 500, for it has gone electric. And wholly electric at that. There’s not a petrol or diesel engine, or even a hybrid powertrain,…

There’s more to this facelifted Mégane Sport Tourer than a lightly revamped cabin and a few modest exterior tweaks. The big news here is that the estate version of Renault’s family car is now available as a plug-in hybrid, with all of the tax savings and eco credentials the addition of a socket, battery and motor inevitably bring. The Mégane E-Tech’s naturally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is paired with a small motor and an integrated starter-generator, which draw their power from a 7.5kWh battery that can be charged from a home wallbox (Renault will provide buyers one for free) in just over three hours. It can travel for 30 miles on electricity alone – five miles less than the rival Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV but not totally uncompetitive. The…

VERDICT Skoda may have sold six million examples of the Octavia since 1996, but we think it can expect to sell a great deal more. In diesel-powered estate form, the fourth-generation car not only hits high notes in terms of its fuel economy, ease of use and interior space, but in the right specification it will also offer better value than most of its rivals. Admittedly, these traits will be familiar to owners of the previous Octavia and, to some extent, the one before that. But the newcomer brings an interior that no longer leaves Skoda’s mid-sized model feeling quite so obviously placed on the bottom rung of the Volkswagen Group product line-up, and the car has swapped some utilitarian charm for an ambience that’s more traditionally alluring. However, our…

Nothing is moving in the parched valley bowl below except for the whirling dust blown this way and that by the hot summer wind. What water there is is slowly evaporating, leaving behind it only cracking mud, baked hard underfoot. Sandblasted, desiccated vegetation provides the only shade, and there’s very little of it. The temperature is 31deg C and climbing. This, believe it or not, is rural Leicestershire, and never has it looked quite so inhospitable. There isn’t a scrap of asphalt to be seen. Instead, the landscape offers only steep tracks, rocky crawls and craggy descents much too perilous to be negotiated in anything less than the most capable four-wheel-drive passenger vehicles on the planet. As it happens, however, that’s just what we’ve got – and we’re here to…

Everyone knows Formula 1 was better in the good old days. Of course it was – although exactly when those days were likely depends on when you first became a fan. That’s nostalgia for you. In truth, the F1 of whichever era you look back on most fondly probably wasn’t quite as good as you remember. Still, F1 fans are often prone to nostalgia, in part because the sport itself is fixated on the future. Most sports remain the same in essence for decades, but F1 is forever evolving, due to a never-ceasing drive to push the limits of technology. And that creates a disconnect between long-time fans and the contemporary sport. With 2020 marking 70 years of the F1 World Championship, the sport’s bosses have been nodding to the…

FEATURE Future of the supercar Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini are all going hybrid. Andrew Frankel ponders what the dream car of the future will be like FEATURE JLR’s new boss The to-do list facing new Jaguar Land Rover chief Thierry Bolloré FEATURE What’s fastest? The top 50 cars we’ve ever tested around our Mira circuit EVERY WEEK FIRST DRIVE Volkswagen ID 4 The ID 3 isn’t even out yet, but we’ve already driven the second ID car ROAD TEST BMW X7 Big, brash… brilliant? BMW’s vast SUV flagship meets our road testers SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p36…

MILEAGE 3361 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if VW can succeed where rivals have failed and give us a fast crossover that’s as good to drive as a hot hatch There’s a short stretch of B-road on my daily commute that has become as useful to me as a commis chef’s favourite paring knife or a mechanic’s best torque wrench. I drive it twice per day, every day that I commute to work – which means I haven’t driven it much at all since early March. And because I’m missing it and I had a good reason, it was where I headed on my first proper go in the road test team’s new Volkswagen T-Roc R the other day. Oxhey Hill, between the North Oxfordshire villages of Mollington and…

Saab 9-5 Ian Thomas said he needed a second car: “The make and model didn’t matter, so long as it wasn’t a Chevy Lacetti. The criteria: 1.8-litre minimum, hatchback, saloon or estate, ULEZ-compliant, fewer than 80,000 miles, full service history and a very good MOT history. “I was patient and found a 2005, 74,000-mile Saab 9-5 2.0T Vector Sport that fitted all my criteria – and far, far more besides. The cost was £1649. Everything works and I can put five years and 50,000 miles on it and still get my money back.”…

BMW320 SE The E30-generation BMW 3 Series’ time on the budget banger circuit has long since ended, and even lowlier entry-level cars are well on their way to achieving bona fide classic status. The big money is in factory-spec two-door models, as evidenced by this once-unassuming 1989 320, which recently passed the block at £12,100. Owned by the drummer from popular indie rock band The 1975, it has covered just 66,000 miles in the hands of four owners from new and is specified in well-appointed SE trim with the optional M-Tech interior package.…

There was once a time when the Mazda MX-5’s monopoly on the affordable sports car market wasn’t so unshakable. When keen drivers could take their pick from a raft of punchy but keenly priced B-road weapons that promised ease of use, kerb appeal and durability in equal measure. The Nissan 350Z is just one of those cars, and although the 370Z that came after (and amazingly is still in production after nearly 12 years) is remarkably similar in terms of its design, construction and performance, it’s the older Z that’s beginning to cultivate genuine classic cachet, and it might not be long before casual enthusiasts are priced out of the market for it. What are its selling points, then? Well, its front-mounted 3.5-litre V6 engine – unencumbered as it is…

Skoda’s first bespoke electric car has been revealed ahead of it going on sale towards the end of this year. The Enyaq iV is the firm’s first use of the Volkswagen Group’s MEB electric car platform and offers two battery capacities, rear or four-wheel drive and a vRS performance variant. Described as “the start of a new era for Skoda” by new CEO Thomas Schäfer, the SUV has an “emotive, powerful and dynamic” exterior design. Measuring 4648mm long and 1877mm wide, it’s almost as big as the Skoda Octavia and significantly larger than the Kia e-Niro. Skoda says space inside is on a par with that of its seven-seat Kodiaq as a result. Distinctive features include an optional LED-backlit grille with a coming/leaving home animation. The LED headlights and tail-lights…

Porsche’s rollout of 992-generation 911 variants is continuing in earnest, and now the most track-focused of them all – the GT3 RS – has been caught testing. Telltale signs that this is the hardcore RS and not a GT3 include a substantial dual-wing spoiler, new rear bumper, revised centre-exit exhaust and new vents on the bonnet and front wings. The GT3 RS will use a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine that put out 503bhp and 346lb ft and revved to 9000rpm in the 991-run-out 911 Speedster. The new GT3 RS is likely to top the 513bhp of its predecessor. Also expect race-specification chassis upgrades and a stripped-out cabin. The GT3 is expected to be revealed in early 2021,so the GT3 RS is unlikely to appear until the end of next…

£550m Annual UK investment by Chinese motor companies POLITICAL TENSION BETWEEN China and the UK has started to affect industrial investment in the UK – the Huawei 5G furore, nuclear power projects and the HS2 railway line being some of the higher-profile examples. But how will this tension affect China’s car industry investments in the UK, led by Geely, SAIC and Nio? At stake are thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of investment in UK facilities (see right). “It’s definitely a concern,” said Professor David Bailey of Birmingham Business School. “Government has a new relationship with China and the big question mark is, even if these investments are private Chinese companies, they operate in a country where the state is much more active in day-to-day operations.” The biggest Chinese…

If a car’s appeal is dictated by the contents of its spec sheet, this range-topping version of BMW’s flagship four-door is all things to all premium performance fans. Combining the 616bhp twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 and chassis of the M8 Coupé with arguably more appealing looks and greater practicality should be a recipe for success. Better still, you pay no premium for your 20cm longer wheelbase and extra pair of doors. In fact, the Gran Coupé is £2500 cheaper – although that’s unlikely to matter when it already tops £120k before extras. Regardless, this has the potential to be a consummate all-rounder. Six-footers can stretch out in the back with only minor head room compromises, while the boot is slightly bigger than the coupé’s. There’s even a ski hatch – more…

1 FORD FOCUS ESTATE 2.0 ECOBLUE 150 ST LINE X AUTO Gives a bit of ground to the Octavia on the practicality front but undoubtedly the keen driver’s choice. Excellent. 2 SKODA OCTAVIA ESTATE 2.0 TDI 150 SE L FIRST EDITION Octavia champions practicality, ease of use and – in certain trims – value for money. A competent, if slightly dull, box ticker. 3 TOYOTA COROLLA TOURING SPORTS 2.0 HYBRID DESIGN Solid build quality, decent practicality, fluid handling and a clever hybrid powertrain all wrapped up in a smart exterior. 4 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF ESTATE 2.0 TDI 150 GT EDITION DSG Current Golf wagon is due to be replaced soon but is still a supremely well-rounded and polished small estate. 5 SEAT LEON ESTATE 1.5 eTSI EVO FR DSG (MK4 MODEL) Spaniard promises excellent…

The original Aston Martin Vanquish and its designer, Ian Callum, have always had something of an on-off relationship. Callum is proud of the car, of course; it was one of the earliest designs for which he drew practically every line. It led Aston’s change to modern construction methods and it’s a timeless shape that has matured beautifully over its 20-year life. However, there were always things the designer simply didn’t like: the old-tech lights, the lower lamps he inherited from the DB7 V12, the mirrors, the chromework, the “timid” wheels, the too-narrow tracks that didn’t quite fill the arches, and the nose and tail designs that he felt needed “more teeth”. Most of all, he was disappointed with the interior; the design theme was decent but the execution was less…

Not so many years ago, the world of unofficially imported cars was as cloudy as the term ‘grey imports’ suggests. The scene, particularly for Japanese domestic market (JDM) models, was familiar only to hardcore enthusiasts with a love for obscure machinery. Today, the world is a smaller place and the grey import market is thriving. There are specialists across the UK who either stock or will source any JDM car you care to think of, but the internet has made the DIY import route a much more accessible option. Scour the UK-orientated Japanese classifieds websites for go-to favourites such as the Subaru Impreza, Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline GT-R and you’ll find strong prices that might have you baulking at the protracted admin work of importing one yourself. But there…

Richard Parry-Jones, Ford’s former vehicle development boss, wouldn’t have known he was laying the foundations for a one-make race series when he developed the original Ka ahead of its 1996 launch. But a quarter of a century later, here I am, sandwiched between two other Kas, travelling down Oulton Park’s start-finish straight at a modest lick, wondering which of us, if any, will blink before we all pile into the Cheshire track’s fourth-gear first corner with a dab of brake, a flick of steering and an actual four-wheel drift through the apex. There’s no way we’re all getting through there at race speed, that’s for sure. Suddenly the RaceKa seems like a no-brainer: affordable and abundant, fun to chuck through corners like it might not emerge from the other side,…

FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the E has the everyday usability to match its desirability, despite its relatively short range I’m very taken with the looks of the Honda E. Most of my colleagues are, too. So I expected the wider public to be equally smitten with the charms of the little electric car that has just entered my life. But the reaction to the E out in the wild has been surprisingly mixed. “It looks like a cassette player,” said one person. “That is so cool,” said another. Other comments included “Looks like a Matchbox toy” and “Those cameras are amazing” (we’ll come back to that last one later). I wasn’t sure whether “It’s a Nissan Cube mixed with a Mini” was a good thing…

QUESTION My son has just passed his driving test and we plan to buy him a used car. He wants something that looks cool. My priority is safety. Can you think of a car that does both? Sally Shinkai, via email ANSWER Probably one of the safest and cheapest modern used cars around at the moment is the Volvo V40 – particularly one equipped with the optional Driver Support pack that includes automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance. It’s stylish, too, particularly in R-Design form. You’ll need at least £4500. MA QUESTION My office is opening back up and I used to commute in on the train. Trouble is, I’m not yet happy to use public transport again, so which reliable city car would be best to tide me over…

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they say. It’s also a good way of getting your hands on the unattainable classic of your dreams. Take, for example, this Chesil Speedster, which offers the style, performance and charm of the iconic Porsche 356 for a fraction of the cost. Chesil has been producing near faithful but not technically identical 356 lookalikes since the 1990s and says most of its clients “would love to own an original 356 but can’t afford the asking price, nor possibly have the skill and time available in which to keep it in running order”. This Speedster was built in 2001 and, as its pristine paint suggests, has done just 8978 miles since. You needn’t be afraid to put a few more under its tyres,…

Toyota Land Cruiser Colorado £2895 On most used cars, a near-200,000 mileage would be cause enough to walk away, but the Toyota Land Cruiser is revered for its almost unrivalled longevity. This 2001 car wears its age astoundingly well, with its seemingly unblemished paintwork, clean cabin and reportedly still-strong 3.0-litre turbodiesel testament to the care it has received. Given that a Land Rover Defender or Mercedes G-Class of a similar age would cost you around five times the £2895 asked for this car, it’s an especially enticing proposition. Not to mention effortlessly cool.…

An owner’s view JACK DABROWSKI “Check for rust, mainly underneath, on the braces and arches. Check its history; regular services are key, and ask if it uses any oil; they’re prone to burning a bit. Let it warm up properly before giving it the beans to get the internals and oil up to temperature. Service it regularly and it should be good. It’s a solid engine if looked after, so don’t be put off by mileage, as long as the history shows it has been maintained well.” Buyer beware… ■ ENGINE Nissan’s 3.5-litre V6 is revered for its dependability, but the less powerful DE unit fitted to pre-2007 cars is known for burning oil, which can cause fatal damage if left unchecked, so look for smoke and pull the dipstick.…