Innholdsfortegnelse for December 9, 2020 i Autocar

While the production version of the E-Motion will increase the desirability factor and boost the brand’s image, MG will stay true to its modern-day ethos with a second big model launch next year: an electric supermini to sit at the bottom end of its range. Due to be launched at the end of 2021, the compact EV will be similar in size to the current 3, Autocar understands, but won’t directly replace that car initially, as it remains a desirable, low-cost offering for dealers and buyers alike Again, MG has revealed few technical details, but we expect the new model to borrow battery and powertrain technology from MG’s other UK-market EVs. However, the battery capacity is likely to decrease from the ZS EV’s 44.5kWh in order to reduce both the…

THE UK’S FIRST dedicated electric vehicle charging forecourt is open for business – and operator Gridserve plans to build more than 100 such sites nationwide by 2026. The forecourt, near Braintree in Essex, has capacity to charge 36 EVs simultaneously at speeds of up to 350kWh, meaning drivers can add up to 200 miles of range in 20 minutes. In line with the company’s ‘sun to wheel’ charging model, energy is generated using solar panels, both on site and at a network of Gridserve-operated farms. Excess power – enough for 26,000 miles of EV range – is stored in a 6MWh on-site battery, which can also power the grid in peak hours. Toddington Harper, CEO of Gridserve, told Autocar his company’s forecourts are planned to “provide people with the confidence…

HAYNES WILL NO longer print Workshop Manuals for new cars, ending a 54-year run. New manuals will instead be published in digital form online, while existing manuals will continue to be printed. The publisher said that it’s “in the process of creating an exciting and comprehensive new automotive maintenance and repair product that will cover around 95% of car makes and models”. Some 200 million Workshop Manuals have been published by Haynes, which was sold to French firm Infopro Digital after founder John Haynes died last year (see p102).…

Vehicle safety body Global NCAP has again thrown a spotlight on the disparity between the safety standards we are accustomed to in Europe and those of cars sold in lower-income markets, which the United Nations says account for 90% of the world’s 1.3 million annual road deaths. The Renault Kwid, already lambasted after poor results in India and Brazil, scored just two stars in Global NCAP’s recent Safer Cars for Africa test, despite the criteria being lower than in Europe and the US. The poor result also comes in spite of the Kwid receiving safety upgrades including driver and passenger airbags. The Kwid is closely related to the Dacia Spring Electric, which is expected to be the cheapest mass-production electric car when it goes on sale in Europe (but not…

ACTIVE NOISE CONTROL might seem like a nice-to-have rather than a must have, but it’s becoming as significant a part of vehicle architectures as the metals and plastics used to create them. Active noise-cancellation systems, which detect unwanted noise and cancel it with signals broadcast through the car’s audio system, have now become fairly commonplace on premium cars. As well as making the driving experience more relaxing, active noise cancellation systems have a significant role to play in reducing vehicle weight by cancelling noise that would otherwise be controlled using hefty passive noise-damping materials. Early noise-cancellation systems could tackle fairly narrow frequency ranges and have been good at dealing with predictable noise like that created by engine vibration. But more random sound, such as wind or road noise, is much…

Two or three years ago, Citroën explained to us how it was going to give its future cars an SUV look while avoiding the SUV drawbacks of a large frontal area and heavy weight that create more emissions. It had decided it would try to give some rough looks without the frontal area and big ride height, and here is the first example of that plan being put into action: the new C4. Quite interesting-looking, isn’t it? 1520mm, it’s 25mm taller than the Ford Focus, and it runs here on 60-section tyres, which are positively balloonish by recent standards. There’s also lower-body cladding for fuller effect and a fastback sort of roofline. Are you convinced? It’s a little shorter than the Toyota C-HR, itself barely a crossover, and again by…

It’s not the fastest, most expensive or most technically advanced version of the 992, but this manual Carrera S, with rear-wheel drive and a modest reduction in mass, promises to be the purest. The seven-speed manual gearbox, currently only available on two- and four-wheel-drive Carrera S models, is around 35kg lighter than the eight-speed PDK auto, while this model’s driver’s car credentials are further enhanced by the standard Sport Chrono Pack, with hydraulic active engine mounts, plus a torque-vectoring mechanical limited-slip diff in place of the auto’s electronic item. From cold, the stubby leather-topped gear-lever has a notchy action, but once warm it’s an absolute delight. The short throw and precise action slice through ratios using little more than fingertip pressure, and even using the clutch is a pleasure. It’s…

The recipe for this driver-focused version of Porsche’s goldengoose SUV remains similar to what it was for the last Macan GTS: a slightly more focused chassis tune, a dash of extra visual flair and a modest power and torque hike over the Macan S. That last point is where things are most notably different between this new car and the old one. The original Macan GTS made use of the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 from the lower-order S; this new one gets the same 2.9-litre motor that powers the flagship Turbo, albeit in a slightly detuned form. The Macan GTS nevertheless feels as real-world quick as you’d ever need it to be. The V6 delivers heroic acceleration right through the rev range, and its aggressive and pleasingly feral-sounding snarl is accentuated…

Let me tell you the parts on this car that are taken directly from a Volvo P1800. Relax, it won’t take long. There’s the metal in all the roof pillars. The handbrake lever. The bonnet release mechanism. And the windscreen wipers. That’s it. That’s all. A classic aviation restorer can pull a wrecked plane from a lake and reconstruct an entire vintage aircraft around a few salvageable parts. Think of the Volvo P1800 Cyan as doing something similar – except with rather less adherence to the original specification. If you’re not sure you’ve heard of Cyan Racing, located in Mölndal, just south of Gothenburg in Sweden, perhaps you’ve heard of Polestar. That was the race team and tuner that did such good things with Volvos that Volvo bought the name…

When you’ve spent the past 125 years recording other people’s attempts to create car history, it feels pretty remarkable to be offered the chance to make some yourself. But that’s where we find ourselves, after being approached by a not-at-all-hypothetical car-mad billionaire, a long-time Autocar reader who fancies setting up his own car firm. Said billionaire – who, it must be stressed, we definitely didn’t make up for the sake of justifying a feature – has a theory: since the Autocar team knows so much about the car industry, we’d be the perfect people to set up and run their nascent car firm. We were intrigued and, once promised full creative freedom and the necessary funds, agreed. We divvied up key jobs within the team, with roles assigned based on…

VERDICT The thing about most aeroplanes and helicopters is that you hear them before you see them. The Goodyear Blimp is the opposite. The sheer size of the Zeppelin LZ N07-101, which is four metres longer than the Boeing 747, and the fact that it’s quieter than a family saloon car in town, means it makes an incredible entrance wherever it goes. People look up as this vast whale of the sky floats gracefully around, and the great news is that it’s just as appealing and endearing from the air as it is on the ground. First of all, there’s its unparalleled versatility. It has attributes that will forever mean it’s a niche operator – it doesn’t like high winds or bad weather and it doesn’t travel very fast –…

I might have imagined it, but I’m sure that Kit Lacey has been eyeing up the Baby Shark. Not because he wants to buy it or covets the sheer wonderfulness of my E21 BMW. Nope, it’s because it has a state-of-the-art (in 1979) three-speed automatic gearbox, which will mate up to an electric motor and inverter and could easily house a battery pack under the cloth rear seats. Lacey’s company, eDub Services, converts conventionally combustion-engined cars into electric ones. Indeed, I’ve already spotted an immaculate Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk2. My heart misses a beat, not least because this king of hot hatches is also missing something fundamental: its 1.8-litre engine. It’s all going to be fine, though, as Lacey shows me the 3D details of the unique Golf subframe on…

1 What was the short-lived Aston Martin GT that lasted just over a year on sale from 2011 called? 2 The Cupra Formentor is named after a peninsula on which Spanish island? 3 Karl Benz introduced the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, but in what year did he introduce his first four-wheeled car, the Viktoria? 4 The Volkswagen family hatchback sold in Brazil is not the Golf but the what? 5 Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950. Which two venues have hosted more championship grands prix since? 6 Which short-lived electric car from 1996 is the only car to be badged General Motors, rather than one of the firm’s brands? 7 In which year did Autocar merge with its historic rival, Motor? 8 The Lotus Esprit…

There’s always a load of concepts revealed each year, but Ben’s favourite of 2020 was actually made in 2005. “All of the never-before-seen cars Porsche recently revealed were spectacular, but this reimagined 906 is my favourite, because I love the tight surfacing and low, Le Mans look,” he explains. Talking of which, racing the Wankel-engined RX-Vision GT3 on Gran Turismo has only made Ben hungrier for a new road-going Mazda coupé. As for the Prophecy, he says: “The menacing but sleek and elegant rear end represents a new design direction for Hyundai that I hope to see reach production.”…

What does Sébastien Ogier have in common with Lewis Hamilton? Both are serial world champions, sure, but their lives intersect far beyond that. They share a passion for the environment that seems at odds with the jobs they carry out to an extraordinarily successful degree. And, with both coming towards the end of their racing careers, they’re carrying that cause forward in what they do next. The new Extreme E series for electric off-road vehicles is something that they’re both involved in: Hamilton as the owner of a team (called X44) and Ogier as a brand ambassador and driver. In fact, Ogier’s plan was to drive in the championship’s inaugural season next year, but that has been put on hold because of his decision to do one more year of…

Best of 2020: it wasn’t all that bad… Our yearbook revisits all the best bits, plus there are more drives, long-term tests and features in this special second double issue Things to do in 2021 We plot your next motoring year – and make our predictions Ford Mustang Mach-E The ’Stang has gone electric, and we’ve driven it. Sensational or sacrilegious? EVERY WEEK Winners and losers Which brands performed and which didn’t in a year for sales like no other Volkswagen Golf R Our first test of the all-new version of this four-wheel-drive hot hatch SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p20…

MILEAGE 7704 INNOCENTI MINI Nothing exciting to report, just another trickle charge photo to add to the collection. I haven’t used the adorable Italian Job much this year. I dole out the journeys around the fleet, subject to what needs to be stuffed on board. All I can do is check the tyre pressures and monitor any bubbly bits of metal, which have so far remained solid since the welding. There are some cosmetic things to do, plus the question of whether or not to fit a period radio to replace the one the seller’s dad nicked when the car was collected from Bologna.…

It might rank as the understatement of the decade to say that when the DB11 was launched in 2016, it was a fairly important car for Aston Martin. Never a company to prosper with quite the financial success you’d imagine a maker of such desirable and expensive sports cars might do, the DB11 arrived at what could be called a make or break time for the British firm. Luckily the car was liked by the press, the public and the people who bought it, so the work Aston had put in was certainly justified. It sat on a brand-new platform, for one, and it borrowed a lot of technology from Aston’s partner, Mercedes. The DB11 is made mostly from aluminium, too, which is light, except where it’s made of magnesium,…

Daihatsu Copen £2900 Behold: 800kg of unbridled, front-driven fury. The Daihatsu Copen will put as big a smile on your face as it will passers-by, with a footprint not much bigger than the original Mini and a fizzy little turbocharged 0.66-litre engine that sends its 67bhp through a crisp five-speed manual gearbox. It’s far from the ideal motorway hack, but fun summer motoring (we’re thinking ahead here, of course) doesn’t come much more accessible, and it’s rare enough to hold its value far better than a Mazda MX-5 of similar vintage.…

“The two-door utilises SAIC’s own modular electric architecture and a twin-motor, 4WD powertrain” MG is gearing up for an ambitious growth plan that it hopes will generate annual sales of up to one million cars by 2024 – the formerly British company’s centenary year. Key to this growth target, which is more than triple MG’s global volume in 2019, will be a number of new and refreshed models, including an electric sports coupé designed to serve as a brand-boosting halo car from its launch in late 2021. At the other end of the MG range, Autocar has learned, will be a new, value-focused electric supermini destined to become a significant volume grower in several European markets (see box on page 7). It is hoped that both models will help MG,…

DS is taking aim at the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Audi A3 with its first bespoke C-segment hatchback, the all-new Detailed ahead of its full unveiling early next year, the new model uses a version of the PSA Group’s new EMP2 architecture that can accommodate both pureinternal-combustion and plug-in hybrid powertrains and, according to DS CEO Béatrice Foucher, can be adapted for fully electric power in future. The platform is also said to have allowed “unprecedented proportions”, with claims of a unique body-to-wheel ratio for its segment and an “athletic silhouette”. The front end will feature the DS brand’s family face with three-section LED headlights and vertical daytime-running lights, while inspiration is from this year’s Aero Sport Lounge concept. The new 4’s platform uses composite materials in its construction to keep…

Surveys and trials agree: the public isn’t ready for a wholesale shift to online sales. But there’s still a huge, online-led change ahead in the way dealers sell cars. Retailers in mainland Europe and the UK are preparing to shift their relationship with manufacturers from the wholesale model to the agency model. This means that instead of buying a car from the manufacturer for a price with a built-in margin, they simply accept a fee for each car sold. I think we will move to agency,” Daksh Gupta, CEO of Marshall Motor Group, told Autocar. “It’s going to be a fascinating change.” Moving to an agency model might not sound like a fundamental shift, but it really is. An agency model means manufacturers control car pricing, instead of dealers, giving…

Welcome to the latest and most, err, radical of Radical’s near-20-year-old SR series. The new SR10’s purpose is to provide the performance of the long-time SR8 flagship (which 15 years ago in kind of road-legal form lapped the Nürburgring in 6min 55sec, a record that stood for 11 years) but without the headache of maintaining a highly specialist piece of So instead of a bespoke 2.7-litre V8 producing 411bhp at 10,500rpm, the SR10 has a 2.3-litre Ford Ecoboost engine fitted with a custom Garrett turbocharger, forged conrods and pistons, a tailor-made dry sump, a race exhaust and its own Life Racing ECU, which together shovel out 425bhp at 6900rpm. Fitted with a Hewland six-speed gearbox originally designed for Formula 2 cars and combined in a 725kg package running slick tyres…

Slimmer lights and more overtly muscular body lines lend the new Captur a good degree more kerb appeal than its predecessor, and there’s little of the gratuitous stylistic quirkiness that afflicts some of its rivals. Nor is there much to tell this electrified version apart from the standard petrol car beyond a subtle badge here and there. Inside, automatic versions such as our test car get a trick new floating’ centre console with a wireless phone charger underneath, and colour-coded soft-touch trim panels imbue the cabin with a real sense of quality. We would bravely suggest the large vertically aligned infotainment touchscreen felt Tesla-esque, but the retention of most of the physical controls means the cabin feels slightly more cluttered than it ought to, while the counterintuitive control placement (the…

See GTI and you instantly know what you’re going to get: a front-driven petrol hatchback. But vRS can mean a diesel or petrol engine, front- or four-wheel drive and a hatchback or estate body. And now, thanks to the Skoda Octavia vRS iV, it can also mean plug-in hybrid power. The definition of vRS is stretched even further by the fact that not one chassis change has been made over the standard Octavia iV. Therefore the vRS iV rides 15mm higher than its petrol and diesel siblings, giving it a slightly strange stance that belies the sporty styling changes it has gained. The drivetrain mixes a 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine with an electric motor and a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox to drive the front wheels. The 13kWh battery offers up to…

For hour after hour we chased across the wilderness. Through engine bark and radio banter, there was excitement and happiness to be heard. We’d stop and swap, before our crazy convoy would careen west once more, a diverse caravan of cracking cars ploughing a furrow across this sceptred isle. In a warm inn, we quenched our thirst and sated our hunger as the passion for our favourite cars of the year was shared and debated around the table. And tomorrow, heads cleared and hearts racing, we would do it all again. Well, that didn’t happen. Clearly in terms of global Covid-related upheavals, the cancellation of Autocar’s Christmas lunch is not going to place us high on anyone’s pity list. But what actually passed for one of our favourite events of…

In our 125-year history, Autocar has driven, reviewed and rated just about every car of significance that has been made. But some of the most notable cars in history never really existed. We’re thinking about the cars you see on TV, in the cinema and on your console screen. It’s time, then, to celebrate some of the finest cars that never were. One caveat: we’re only counting entirely fictional cars. So sorry, Kitt, you may feature advanced AI-based autonomy, but you’re just a specced-up Pontiac Firebird… RED BULL X2010 As seen in: Gran Turismo 5. First appearance: 2010 One challenge about making cutting-edge cars is that there gulations that constrain them and the technology to build them struggle to keep up with our imaginations. But that’s not a problem when…

MODEL TESTED ZEPPELIN LZ N07-101 Price £17,880,000 • Power 600bhp • Fuel economy 40kg/hour • Endurance 24 hours • Climb rate 1000ft/min • Descent rate 1200ft/min Passengers travelling aboard the subject of this year’s Christmas road test don’t get airsick but can feel seasick, according to Kate Board, one of its lead pilots. With distinctive blue-and-yellow livery, this Zeppelin LZ N07-101 airship is otherwise known as The Goodyear Blimp, a marketing vehicle that returned to European skies for the first time in almost a decade during the summer. That people on board are likely to need sea legs rather than air legs tells you something about the unique nature of an airship, as we’ll discover. They’re sometimes referred to as lighter-than-air ships, although that’s not strictly accurate in the case…

ZBE: a new initialism I’ve just invented. It stands for Zoom Background Embarrassment. It’s not that John McGuinness has just spotted my first edition of The Joy of Sex. No, it’s worse than that. He’s seen my paltry collection of trophies on top of the bookcase. With 23 Isle of Man TT wins and three decades of racing and winning around the world, McGuinness has amassed more silverware in a week than I have over a lifetime. Fortunately, he is not in his trophy room. “For car racing, are they?” enquires McGuinness. “Some,” I reply. “But most are for bike racing.” That changes everything; immediately my credibility has gone up a few levels, even though my successes are very modest. “Doesn’t matter,” he says. “There’s them that sit in the…

This isn’t a car. And I don’t mean that in the Marks & Spencer “this isn’t just a car” way – more like the opposite. The Citroën Ami isn’t a car because, although it has four wheels, a motor, two seats, two doors, two pedals and a steering wheel, it’s a quadricycle – a category of small, light vehicle that also includes the Renault Twizy and, if you recall, the Reva G-Wiz. In some European countries, a quadricycle brings with it certain liberties. You may drive it without needing a full driving licence or from as young as 14 (although not in the UK). They also don’t get crash-tested as rigorously as cars, nor do they have to comply with the latest emissions regulations, as you’ll know if you’ve followed…

BMW 520i Felix Page KEEN READERS MIGHT recall the sub-£1000 E39 BMW 5 Series that I bagged back in the hazy days of summer. My initial enthusiasm for the car didn’t fade over its first few weeks under my stewardship, and a couple of long runs were dispatched with barely a cough from its 120,000-mile six-pot motor. It had a fresh MOT, but I chucked some new tyres on to be safe – what a transformation – and hastily topped up the oil when a lifter started clattering. The car then continued to disappoint my more sceptical friends and relations who were just waiting to laugh at me when it all went wrong. As a move to a one-car flat approached, I faced facts and prepared the 5er for sale.…

Luc Lacey loves the scenery of the North Coast 500, but shooting a Porsche 718 Boxster among it in January was tough. “The short days made it tricky, but working into the wee hours, I lucked out with clear skies,” he says. Olgun Kordal was also looking skywards just before his F-Type snap: “I saw clouds rolling down the mountains in Portugal and took the logs shaped like an F as a sign that I should place the car there.” More sky talk from Luc, this time about his Porsche Taycan portrait: “My colleagues weren’t quite as excited as I was about the prospect of the sunrise lining up perfectly with this arch of rock reaching across the road. It was well worth the early rise.” Max Edleston, no stranger…

We’ve never needed Formula 1 more than we did this year. After months of depressing inactivity and nothing but bad news, the mid-summer return of grand prix racing four months after the cancellation of the Australian GP gave us a welcome distraction from the trials of real life. Huge efforts were made to string together an emergency schedule of races, eventually totalling an impressive 17, almost entirely based in Europe and mostly run to empty grandstands. The odd circumstances opened the door for circuits that never previously had any hope of hosting a grand prix – and offered a return to some old favourites. Without access to watch trackside, we relied more than ever on TV broadcasters to take us to the heart of the action. Former F1 driver Karun…

Being on Autocar’s long-term test fleet is a stiff examination for any new car. It’s a chance for us to find out what a new machine is really like to live with over an extended period. Although the sudden advent of remote working – which for the Autocar team remains ongoing – means our office car park has been empty since March, we’ve maintained a fleet of long-termers at our various home offices. But while the need for social distancing and suitable sanitising safety measures has reduced our ability to swap cars quite so frequently, we’ve still been privileged to run some incredible motors this year. And, as is tradition, it’s time to hand out some awards. THE BEST INNOVATION (UNTIL A VACCINE) AWARD For the most inspired feature WINNER…

Renault 19 Reader John has sent in a rather wonderful story. “Here is my Renault 19 RSi saloon, which I’ve recently restored,” he says. “I’ve always wanted one. My father bought a Renault 19 1.9D Chamade GTS in 1990 when I was six, and I remember going to pick it up. I couldn’t find a Phase 1 19 but came across this one five minutes from my house. It was rust-free but took time to sort. It drives well and is very comfortable. It’s currently in winter storage, but I’m always on the lookout for more saloons or other unloved cars.”…

Vauxhall Astra GTC VXR £9000 Were there such a thing as a hot hatchback hall of fame, nestled at the back of the building – way behind the Golf GTIs, Renault Sport Méganes and Focus STs – you might find a hot three-door Vauxhall that you hadn’t previously associated with such esteemed company. Not that it wouldn’t deserve its place in the collection, of course, because while the performance version of the fourth-generation Astra enjoys nothing like the same shining legacy as most of its contemporaries, it’ll leave them for dust on the straights and give you a good time in the curvy bits, too. A power output of 276bhp is enough to send the coupé-styled hatchback from zero to 62mph in less than six seconds, and with a top…

An expert’s view MARTIN SKEET, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SILSOE CLASSIC AND MODERN “I remember when the E30 came out. Compared with everything else on the road, it looked sharp, smart and sophisticated. The M3 is still a formidable car. Today, half the calls we get are for BMWs of this period, but they all have serious rust issues. I’d say it’s the one thing you have to be wary of, and you should avoid any car with serious rust. Mechanicals can be fixed but rust is expensive to sort.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE These are old engines that require oil and filter changes on the button. The oil spray bar at the top of the engine gets clogged, so listen for noisy valve gear. Sixes need a cambelt change every 36,000…

HONDA WILL PHASE out cars that use only an engine from its European line-up by the end of 2022, senior vice-president Ian Howells has confirmed. He said at a recent Financial Times conference: “It [Honda’s line-up] will be a combination of full electric and hybrid. Obviously, if the legislation starts to move as we approach 2035, or transitions away from hybrid as well, we’ll move our technology away from that.” Howells was keen to stress that Honda believes in a multipath approach to reducing its carbon footprint and that the UK government’s recent announcement of a 2030 ICE car ban hasn’t changed that. He feels there is a role for various technologies, saying: “There’s a role to play for e-fuels, biomass, hydrogen, to some degree conventional fuels and also batteries.”…

The Goodwood Estate plans to host all three of its flagship motorsport events in 2021, after its schedule was decimated this year by the pandemic. The West Sussex venue’s automotive calendar starts on 15 May with the 78th Members’ Meeting, before the Festival of Speed is held from 8-11 July and the Revival from 17-19 September. None of the three took place in 2020, with a special Speedweek event instead run behind closed doors in October. The public should be able to visit in 2021, with limited numbers of tickets on sale from February.…

Mitsubishi’s surprise announcement in July that it will throw in the towel and exit Europe highlights the wide-reaching problems that Japanese manufacturers – with the notable exception of Toyota – are facing in the region. Ever more stringent local emissions and technical legislation combined with the region’s desire for ultra-sophisticated smaller cars has recently made Europe a far tougher place to do business, especially if all your big markets are elsewhere. Mitsubishi said it will leave after the current generation of cars finishes production to concentrate on its profitable South-East Asia market, bringing to an end its run in the region that began in 1975. It follows out of the door Japanese small car specialist Daihatsu, which left in 2013. Subaru is now barely clinging on, selling just 13,359 cars…

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Last year, the UK bought about 20% more pick-up trucks than it did sports cars. It’s not such a spurious comparison; our flatbed market has been running at just over 50,000 units per year since 2017, and the growing trend within it isn’t from better-paid fleet drivers who want a lower tax bill but private buyers spending their own cash on higherend, big-power, equipment-heavy, double-cab ‘lifestyle pick-ups’. So we’re now just as likely to buy a ritzy truck as a versatile enabler of active, outdoorsy weekends as we are a drop-top Porsche or a Mazda MX-5 as a weekend plaything. Yeehaw etc. While remaining Europe’s biggest-selling pick-up, the Mk8 Toyota Hilux (launched in 2016) has been missing out on this leisure trend, remaining at heart the slightly rough but oh-so-tough…

Cast your mind back to summer 2019, when the Model 3 arrived in Britain and sightings of its globular form had us pressing our noses up against the glass of our own, suddenly quite archaic-feeling internal-combustion cars. Tesla’s most affordable offering has, in the short time since then, gone from being almost non-existent on our roads to common, especially in London. And this despite it being considerably more expensive than EV stalwarts such as the Nissan Leaf. In fact, so strong is the brand and capable the product that Tesla’s junior saloon regularly tops the monthly EV sales charts in Europe, with only Renault’s Zoe able to keep up. True, at this precise moment, the box-fresh Volkswagen ID 3 is the EV that Europeans want most, but with almost all…

This whole Christmas caper really is still a novelty north of the border. It is, after all, only 49 years since it became a public holiday in Scotland. For centuries after the Reformation of 1560 cast Catholicism aside, the marking of Yule was frowned upon at best and illegal at worst as the austere Church of Scotland sought to stamp out ‘popish superstition’, ‘filthy carols’ and ‘extraordinary drinking’. It’s no small irony, then, that the Kirk turned a blind eye to Hogmanay, with its pagan traditions, peculiar songs and ample refreshments that turned 31 December into Scotland’s foremost annual festivity. The blockbusting, commercialised modern-day celebration of ‘Edinburgh’s Hogmanay’ is, of course, cancelled this year, so we’re embarking on a road trip to discover some of the older, simpler ways in…

TECHNICAL LAYOUT A vast, 75m long polyester envelope sits over a metal/carbon fibre structure to which all of the other mechanicals are attached, and provides support to the envelope even if it should rupture. Two fully suspended wheels, three engines, and three control surfaces. THE GOOD YEAR BLIMP ZEPPELIN LZ N07-101 AIRSHIP OF NEWEST TECHNOLOGY In-the-air price £17,880,000 EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST ENGINE Installation Two mid, one rear Make Lycoming IO-360 Type 4 cyls horizontally opposed, 5916cc, spark ignition, Avgas Bore/stroke 130.2mm/111.1mm Compression ratio 8.5:1 Engine weight 117kg (dry) Power 197bhp at 2700rpm Specific output 33bhp per litre CHASSIS & BODY Envelope construction Polyester Envelope volume 8245cu.m Chassis construction Three aluminium longerons and 12 segments of triangular carbonfibre, with cabin, fins and engines all mounted to the 1100kg structure. Maximum take-off mass…

Most presents fit under the tree, but three I’ve been lucky enough to receive this year require a 500-acre quarry called Kevin. Located in the Staffordshire countryside, this industrial playground has, despite its name, a serious purpose as the home of JCB Research, the digger manufacturer’s development centre, where tomorrow’s machines are put through their paces. It’s also the home of JCB Demonstration, where the company shows off its new vehicles to customers as well as to scribes like me who have seen diggers pushing earth around and reckon driving one is as easy as falling off a log. Well, after a day spent doing just that, I’m here to tell you that it ain’t. Never again will I walk past a Backhoe Loader – the digger that JCB has…

Autocar couldn’t let 2020 pass without tilting its hat in the direction of John Haynes (1938-2019), whose company behind the eponymous workshop manuals with their pages of detailed disassembly instructions (note: refitting is the reverse of removal) celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. JH Haynes & Co was founded in 1960, four years after John Haynes produced his first manual, on his home-built Austin Seven Special (written while still at school) and five years before he published the first Haynes Owners Workshop manual, dedicated to the Austin-Healey Sprite. The story of his life is told in a new book, called John Haynes, The Man Behind the Manuals. Haynes was a lover of telling it straight and would have been pleased with the book’s no-nonsense title. He was a one-time amateur…

Thanks to the efforts of its customisation arm producing various special editions, well-heeled nature fans are well catered for by Bentley. There’s the Bentayga Falconry by Mulliner, which offers saker falcon owners a built-in flight station and accessories including binoculars and a Bentley-branded bird hood. Or there’s the Bentayga Fly Fishing by Mulliner, with its customised tackle box and waterproof storage trunk to house your soggy waders. But even the most pampered bird of prey would probably cast an envious eye at Bentley’s newest creations, designed for the humble pipistrelle bat and blue tit. While a certain crime-fighting superhero might enjoy a Bentayga Batmobile by Mulliner for a spot of luxury, instead of a customised SUV, Bentley is installing bird and bat boxes for these crucial residents of the British…

Our scoops are illustrated by picture editor Ben Summerell-Youde. His proudest creation of 2020 was the MC20, although he admits: “I felt guilty pressing Ferrari hard to get hold of a high-resolution image of the SF90 Stradale, only to use it as the base for a Maserati.” As for the futuristic new F-Type: “Jaguar tells us the Gran Turismo Vision concept won’t be an influence, but it looks so good that I couldn’t resist using it as the basis.” Completing our renders podium is an imagining of the new Lotus sports car because “there’s nothing better than a fresh halo supercar that I can rework into smaller models”.…

Ash Sutton Sutton showed he is the British Touring Car Championship’s brightest young talent with his first title in 2017, and his second might have been even better. Driving a privately run Infiniti Q50, the 26-year-old took the fight to BMW UK’s four-time champion Colin Turkington, triumphing in the inevitable final-round showdown. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López The 2019-20 World Endurance Championship crown was always going to be won by a Toyota TS050 Hybrid crew – but which one was in doubt until the final round. Ultimately, the right crew won: Conway, Kobayashi and López won four of the eight races, and the title helped atone for a heart-breaking failure after leading the Le Mans 24 Hours. António Félix da Costa DS Techeetah continued to set the…

How to tame a cat If I were to write to Thierry Bolloré, I’d suggest it would be helpful in determining future policy for him to understand some of Jaguar’s recent errors. I write as an XE owner of five years. First: I’ve yet to meet anyone other than a Jaguar salesman who can tell the XE and XF apart. If two models were deemed necessary, they should at least have been visually distinct. Second: As for design and development, I’m amazed and disappointed that some of the more glaring failings made it to production. Third: There’s a complete lack of promotion. Fourth: Why don’t the E-Pace and F-Pace look more like the I-Pace? At present, they’re just another pair of anonymous breadvans in one of the most competitive market…

QUESTION I’m planning lots of ‘staycations’, so lots of camping, but can only park one vehicle at home. Can I buy a car-cum-campervan for £6000? Jo Bashford, Yorkshire ANSWER Let’s say our key requirements are space, some off-road ability and reliability. A third-gen Land Rover Discovery has the first two in spades, and a leggy 2006 car for £4000 is a great way to get you and the family to the lakes. You can’t go far wrong with a pick-up, either. Grab a high-mileage Mitsubishi L200 for £3000 and spend the rest of your budget on a cover for the bed (which will be a perfect, er, bed), an inflatable mattress and a decent barbecue. FP QUESTION I’ve been waiting for the new VW Golf GTI, but a 17-plate Mk7.5…

AUDI UR QUATTRO 10V The last time we saw a Quattro with its wheels that far off the ground, Hannu Mikkola was at the wheel. This 1985 car hasn’t been driven in anger – on a Finnish forest stage or otherwise – for 26 years, but underneath all that dust it looks to be remarkably solid. The seller warned that it would need “substantial restoration”, but with the cleanest examples commanding upwards of £30,000, we reckon £17,205 isn’t bad going for an unmodified right-hand-drive car. The first job, hopefully, was to brush the cobwebs off the gearstick.…

Timing is everything, they say, and the 1982 UK launch timing of BMW’s E30-generation 3 Series was spot on. Princess Diana’s wedding the year before had given spirits a boost and, in a couple of years, enough lucky people would begin to feel richer, thanks to rising wages and house prices and a booming stock market. The classy, good-to-drive E30 captured the mood perfectly and, thanks to its wide choice of bodystyles (two- and four-door saloons, convertible and Touring estate), engines (four- and six-cylinder) and transmissions and decent level of equipment, it quickly became the motor of choice for a generation of pushy drivers. Fast-forward almost 40 years and those same people, although now less pushy, are helping to rekindle interest in the E30, with the result that good ones…