MONDAY - Early business at Bentley in Crewe, so I left Gloucestershire at 6am to avoid the traffic, stopping at Keele services north of Birmingham for a coffee.
It’s a while since I’ve done a no-nonsense trip in a little car like our Suzuki Celerio, the kind where you concentrate equally on saving time and fuel. It was a pleasure; the absorption took me away from the nonsense on the radio. The 999cc triple’s fuel consumption just gets better. My 71mpg was once a figure you’d dream about from a Vespa, let alone a five-seat car.
Only after leaving Crewe did an irony strike me: the place will soon be home to Bentley’s Bentayga SUV, one and a half times as long, two and a half times as heavy and eight times more powerful than the Suzuki.
The words of Bentayga project leader Peter Guest came back to me: “If WO Bentley had set out to build a car in 2015, I’m sure he’d have made an SUV.”
TUESDAY - Lunch with Jaguar design director Ian Callum in the relaxed atmosphere of Rules, the capital’s oldest restaurant. Such meetings normally happen at motor shows, where you’re chasing the next big thing, so it was a special pleasure hearing Callum talk about his own Jaguar journey.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said. “I’ve always loved the brand, and when I took over I reckoned I knew what was needed. But I was petrified to be put in charge of the company’s vision. I thought it would take 10 years to get things right; 16 years on, we’re just about getting there. We’ve renewed the saloons, launched the F-Type and we’re well advanced with F-Pace, the sports crossover I said I’d never design.
“We have a fantastic design team. More and more they create things I wish I’d designed, which is as it should be.”
Callum, who still sketches cars for relaxation, believes the post-F-Pace period will be a time for reflection, because the Jaguars beyond will begin a new generation. Exciting prospect.
WEDNESDAY - To Buckmore Park, the Kentish kart track near Chatham, where owner John Surtees, the former car and motorcycle world champion, was hosting a relaunch with new karts, a new logo and bold new plans for an extension of the 0.6-mile track that he hopes will lead to a world championship event.
Buckmore, which nestles in a natural amphitheatre beside the M2 motorway, has played a vital part in UK motorsport, having helped to develop the careers of stars such as Johnny Herbert, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Anthony Davidson and the late Dan Wheldon.
This was a carefree afternoon, with guests taking to the track in the new karts and one or two sitting in with racing driver Scott Malvern in a special high-powered two-seat kart. Reminded me of Michael Schumacher’s view of karting: that it was the purest form of competition this side of F1.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Small = Smiles per gallon
My current bus, on a run
Fastest lorries in the world
On the subject of the Suzuki, 71mpg seems a bit too good to be true. Was this a one way trip with the wind behind, was there slipstreaming involved, or did you simply believe the trip computer readout? My own t/c typically over-reads by about 5mpg, and I simply don't believe them.
Incidentally there is a new entry level Celerio model now available at just £6999. Probably cheaper than walking!