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Nuvolari: Audi reveals shock new V8 supercar to replace R8

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0100

Ultra-exclusive Lambo Temerario twin gets nearly 1000bhp from hybrid V8 – and introduces new design language

The new Audi Nuvolari is a limited-run 987bhp V8 hybrid supercar that serves as a new flagship more exclusive than the R8 – and, according to boss Gernot Döllner, serves as “a statement for the future” of the brand.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre engine aided by three electric motors, the mid-engined Nuvolari is the fastest and most powerful production car the German firm has ever produced.

It features Formula 1-inspired technology including active aerodynamics, a carbonfibre body and a torque vectoring four-wheel drive system.

Due to arrive early near year and limited to 499 units, the Nuvolari is the first car that will go into production showcasing Audi’s new design language, first previewed by last year’s Concept C.

Revealed in near-production form, Audi claims that the Nuvolari is the "next tangible evidence" of its renewal after the Concept C.

Döllner added that the supercar “brings together outstanding design and a new speed of innovation with a lot of technical content”.

Serving as the flagship of Audi’s new-era line-up, the Nuvolari is pitched above the R8 that it effectively succeeds in terms of both pricing and ethos.

Similarly to how the two generations of its predecessor (which went out of production in 2024) shared their technical underpinnings with the Lamborghini Gallardo and Hurácan, the Nuvolari shares its powertrain technology with the fellow Volkswagen Group brand’s new Temarario.

Rather than reviving the R8 title, it moves away from Audi’s traditional alphanumeric badging convention and takes it name from Tazio Nuvolari, one of the most successful pre-war grand prix racers, who latterly drove for Audi predecessor Auto Union.

Powertrain and performance

The Nuvolari was developed in around 14 months after being given the green light in March 2025, with that timeline set so that it could be launched in Audi’s first season competing in F1.

Audi’s new technical boss, Rouven Mohr (who joined the brand from Lamborghini, where he oversaw development of the Temarario), said that “our entire team has once again demonstrated its technical expertise, innovative strength and dedication” in making the car.

Mohr told Autocar that the Nuvolari was developed by a “cross-brand team” involving engineers from Audi, its F1 team and Lamborghini.

Mohr added: “The Concept C was the visualisation of the new design language, but 'Radical Next' can be more than design, it can be product and technology.”

The powertrain is based around the same 4.0-litre V8 used in the Temarario, which on its own offers 789bhp and 538lb ft of torque and can rev up to 10,000rpm.

That is supplemented by three axial flux electric motors, each of which produces 148bhp.

Two of the motors are oil-cooled and mounted on the front axle, delivering up to 1586lb ft. The third motor is mounted between the mid-mounted V8 and the transmission. The motors draw power from a 7.3kWh battery, compared with a 3.8kWh unit in the Temarario.

Total system output is 987bhp, which is notably 80bhp more than the Temerario, despite the individual maximum output of the engine and motors being the same. The increase is due to a bespoke torque map and software and the larger battery.

It’s enough to power the Nuvolari from 0-62mph in 2.6sec – 0.1sec quicker than the Temarario – and onto 124mph in 6.8sec. Its top speed is more than 217mph.

Mohr said: “The character of the two cars is completely different. If you would drive the car, you would not know that there is a similarity of the powertrain, you would never come on the idea, because this car really drives more from the Audi perspective. It gives you a very direct feeling on being relaxed and fast, but you can be fast like hell. An Audi always has to be stuck on the performance daily-user capability and a very high precision.”

The hybrid powertrain features an advanced torque-vectoring system that is branded as Quattro Predictive Ride. Audi refers to it as the “next generation of all-wheel-drive”.

It essentially takes data from various sensors, measuring steering angle, acceleration, yaw rate and grip to distribute torque to the wheels as needed. It does this by controlling the front motors and can also utilise the brakes as needed and adjust the active aerodynamics to reduce slip.

There are various drive modes, selected via a steering wheel-mounted dial: E-Hybrid, Balanced, Dynamic, Dynamic+ and Track.

The Nuvolari's energy management system can adapt to driving conditions, grip levels and "driver intent", blending coasting and brake recuperation to optimise energy recovery.

The front motors are responsible for a significant portion of the braking energy on the front axle, and in total up to 0.3g of deceleration can be generated by the electric system alone.

The launch control function also makes used of the stored electric energy to offer maximum acceleration.

The Nuvolari sits on 21in wheels, with Bridgestone Potenza race tyres measuring 255/35 at the front and 325/30 at the rear.

The brake-by-wire system with carbon-ceramic discs has been designed to blend with the energy recovery functions. There are ten-piston fixed callipers with 420x40mm discs on the front axle and four-piston 410x32mm discs on the rear.

Audi claims the cooling system increases heat dissipation by up to 21% compared with normal carbon-ceramic systems and claims the system can handle deceleration loads on par with an F1 car.

Chassis and aerodynamics

The Nuvolari is built around a spaceframe body and is the first production Audi to feature a carbonfibre exterior, with most components made from carbonfibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), similar to an F1 car.

The various parts are pre-shaped and then cured at high pressure and temperature, a process that is claimed to maximise structural performance while minimising weight.

Certain parts of the car that are exposed to high temperatures use heat-resistant materials.

The exterior bodywork has been honed for aerodynamic performance and includes a front splitter and dramatic rear diffuser.

Audi F1 drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg are said to have produced feedback to fine-tune the aerodynamic development.

Also derived from F1 are the Nuvolari's active aerodynamics, which can balance downforce, drag and aerodynamic balance. The active rear wing has three settings: Closed, Low Downforce (LD) and High Downforce (HD).

There are large front air intakes to aid the cooling of the brakes and boost thermal management of the motors, plus an S-duct (technology previously seen in F1) that adds downforce at high speeds and provides extra cooling for the powertrain.

In Dynamic, Dynamic+ and Track modes, the rear wing operates automatically and will shift to the LD position on straights to boost top speed. There's a manually selectable drag reduction system (DRS) that further lowers the wing. Under braking, the wing will then automatically adjust to HD position; in this mode, the Nuvolari can generate more than 400kg of downforce.

Audi wouldn’t be drawn on the weight of the Nuvolari but, with its carbonfibre body and aluminium frame, it's expected to tip the scales lighter than the 1690kg (dry) Temerario.

Design

Thanks to its short 14-month development time, the Nuvolari will be the first production Audi to feature the new design language being introduced by new styling chief Massimo Frascella.

It therefore gives strong clues as to what to expect from the next generation of the firm's more mainstream models.

The exterior is largely shaped by the aerodynamics, with an interpretation of the reduced, vertically oriented 'Singleframe' grille previewed by the Concept C - which will be a feature of the next-generation of Audi models.

The square grille on the Nuvolari is reminiscent of the one featured on the Concept C but features a number of small square elements, which are angled to optimise aerodynamics.

The version of the Nuvolari shown at the launch event was finished in Titanium, Audi's new signature colour, as already seen on its F1 cars and the Concept C.

Notably, at the rear of the car the Audi rings found on the top of the adjustable rear wing are milled from aluminium and then set flush inside the carbonfibre bodywork.

The interior also showcases the brand’s renewed focus on simplicity, with what it claims is a “driver-centric approach”. The key functions are all placed within the driver’s field of vision.

The colour accents used for various controls are inspired by the Auto Union Type C racer campaigned by Nuvolari in the late 1930s.

The cabin also uses colour to split the cabin into two zones. The front section is finished in darker tones, claimed to aid concentration, while the rear of the interior is finished in a lighter tone called Shadow Dune.

Pricing details for the Nuvolari haven't been made public, but the Temarario starts from £259,000. Deliveries of the 499 examples are due to begin in the first half of next year.

How high-tech simulators save 12,000 tyres a year

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0100

Bridgestone's latest DiM500 simulator lets it develop bespoke tyres faster

Driving simulators continue to grow ever more sophisticated, transforming the development of cars and the things they are made from.

They have certainly moved on from the level of giving drivers and pilots a realistic training environment without the need to physically sit them in a Formula 1 car or airliner.

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HiL) enables engineers to run components like electronic control units through endless hours of testing by connecting them to a computer model of the system they would normally control. Driver-in-the-loop (DiL) does a similar thing, allowing a human driver with real human responses, reactions and inputs to test a virtual car, or any virtual part of a car, while avoiding the time and expense of doing it for real.

Bridgestone recently installed a new DiL DiM500 simulator made by a firm called VI-grade. The DiM500 will enable Bridgestone's engineers to assess the performance of virtual prototype tyres without the need to make or physically test them until late in the development cycle.

Using the simulator, they can combine high-fidelity simulations with subjective driver feedback and historical data. It can also incorporate AI technologies to do something AI is particularly good at: extracting relevant information from vast quantities of data.

The outcome is that Bridgestone can now make earlier and more accurate design decisions by evaluating a much larger range of tyre specifications more quickly and across a broader range of conditions. The new DiL simulator is expected to avoid having to make and destroy as many as 12,000 prototype tyres a year, significantly reducing the environmental impact.

There are other advantages too. All OEMs work with their chosen tyre makers during the development of a new car to design and fine-tune the OEM-fitment tyres for that model. With both the tyre and car makers using DiL simulation, tyre and vehicle can be developed in parallel from an earlier stage.

The DiM500 simulator is currently being used mainly for dry handling evaluation but that will evolve to encompass a wider range of driving conditions.

Bridgestone had already introduced its Virtual Tyre Development (VTD) technology, which has cut raw material consumption by 60% in the development phase of OEM tyres, and 25% for replacement tyres. Bridgestone says the introduction of VTD reduced the amount of physical vehicle testing by 80%.

The DiM500 is a step up from earlier models such as the DiM250 installed by Goodyear in 2021. The DiM500 cable- is rather than actuator-operated, which gives it a larger range of motion and enables it to be used for more applications.

One key advantage of this, which may be a plus for tyre development, is that it can expose the driver to steady-state acceleration for longer, recreating a manoeuvre like a lane change more realistically and giving the test driver a more immersive experience.

Fiesta, Bronco, Puma and more: Ford's European comeback detailed

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0100

Autocar renders show what the new 'Fiesta' and European-market Bronco could look like

Electric hatch will be joined by new small crossovers and an SUV - all with 'rally-led' dynamics

Ford will launch five new cars over the next four years in the UK and mainland Europe - including a new electric Fiesta successor - and the firm's Europe passenger car chief has vowed that their driving dynamics will live up to Ford's rich heritage.

The new models will all sit in the B-and C-segments. They comprise a Bronco-inspired 'multi-energy SUV; a small electric hatchback that could revive the Fiesta name; a crossover that will be built on a Renault platform; and two further plug-in hybrid crossovers that are tipped to be produced in collaboration with Geely.

Ford dominated the UK sales charts for decades with models such as the Fiesta and Focus. But its market share has slumped in recent years, in part due to the decision to axe both of those models and convert its Cologne factory to produce the Explorer and Capri electric SUVs, which are built on a Volkswagen Group platform.

However, Ford has insisted that it remains committed to the European car market and the firm's Europe chief, Jim Baumbick, has declared: "We don't just want to compete. We're here to play to win."

Five new Fords: what's coming

Ford's revamped European strategy includes a major focus on the most popular B-and C-segments, which account for around 80% of sales in the region. All five new models will be between 4.0m and 4.65m long.

The firm's new-look European line-up will be led by a compact SUV that, as first revealed by Autocar, will be part of the global Bronco family, with styling modelled on the hugely successful US-market off-roader.

The new model will be produced from 2028 onwards at Ford's Valencia plant alongside the existing Kuga SUV, with which it is expected to share Ford's C2 platform. The move is part of a plan by Ford, previously outlined to Autocar by company boss Jim Farley, to turn the Bronco from a single off-road model into a global brand.

Baumbick said the new European Bronco would be true to the US model's heritage but would also be "produced in Europe and sized for the European market", adding that "it will be a high-volume model".

The electric hatchback and crossover, also due in 2028, will be produced for Ford by Renault as part of a previously announced partnership between the two firms. They will sit on Renault's RGMP Small platform (formerly Ampr Small), as used by the Renault 5 and Nissan Micra.

However, Ford insists they will be bespoke propositions, with their driving dynamics and rally-inspired styling dictated by Ford.

Baumbick said: "To a customer, it's the things that [you] see, touch and feel that need to be different to make it authentically a Ford.

"Our job is to work with partners to assess the capability, and the bandwidth of the [Renault] platform gives us the variables to inject and differentiate the driving experience for a Ford, so we're not just buying a list of parts.

"This is not a cafeteria style of development. This is making a strategic choice on a world-class set of platforms and partners that then gives us the tools in the toolkit to do what our development teams do best, to use that toolkit to create a different experience. I assure you that you will see a completely different vehicle."

Baumbick declined to comment on whether the new hatchback would revive the Fiesta name and sources at the firm have insisted that a final decision has yet to be made. But he said that "certainly the history and the heritage" of some of Ford's classic model names "is not lost on me".

Ford will also launch what it describes as two "rally-bred crossover models" that will use a multi-energy platform and arrive before the end of 2029. While Baumbick refused to be drawn, it is expected that these will be jointly developed with Chinese giant Geely.

Ford is believed to be in negotiations with Geely to sell part of its Spanish plant to the firm, which owns Volvo and Polestar, and potentially collaborate on platforms.

Baumbick highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships to Ford in giving it the scale and volume required to compete in the European market-but he hinted it could also include Ford producing cars for other firms on its platforms.

The current Puma was launched in 2019 and is offered in petrol and electric forms. Christian Weingärtner, Ford's Europe passenger vehicle boss, told Autocar that the model was "up for renewal" and Ford was considering its future. But he insisted those future plans were "not directly related" to the similarly sized new cars being launched in the coming years.

Ford to focus on driving dynamics

All five of the new vehicles are claimed by Ford to be 'rally-bred', drawing on its long history of off-road competition. The focus on its off-road heritage reflects a similar strategy Ford has taken with its US line-up in recent years.

Based on the success of the revived Bronco, its more road-biased Bronco Sport sibling and Raptor variants of its pick-ups, the firm has focused on becoming "the Porsche of off-road".

Ford will use its rallying heritage to follow a similar path in Europe, believing that this approach will reinforce its history of producing cars with strong driving dynamics. The company's aim is to ensure that Fords offer superior driving dynamics to rivals, something that the firm became particularly known for in Europe with models such as the Fiesta and Focus, which were honed by dynamics guru Richard Parry-Jones.

Weingärtner told Autocar: "We need to combine the heritage with the future. If you look at the market today, what sets us apart is that we've been here for more than 100 years."

He added that this needed to be reflected in the dynamics of every vehicle Ford produces.

He said: "If the only reason to buy a car is price, then heritage matters not at all-but there are more reasons to buy a car, and this emotional connection people have with Ford matters.

"But heritage alone doesn't sell vehicles: it needs to be a good proposition, and having a sporty car is what people like to drive. We're convinced that, say, having a lot of touchscreens in a car doesn't necessarily make it the best car. Driving dynamics is something Ford has traditionally been really good at, and we'll double down on this."

This doesn't mean that all new Fords will be hardcore rally-infused models, but rather that their handling traits will emphasise fun driving. Weingärtner insisted that Ford would be able to accomplish that on platforms developed by a different company.

"We can't just have that as a marketing slogan. It needs to be injected into the core technical elements of the vehicle," said Weingärtner. "That's what we're going to do with the dampers, suspension and all those kinds of things [so it] will be true to Ford.

"The charging system of an EV platform might not be ours, but that has nothing to do with how a vehicle drives. The driving dynamics, all the things that matter, all the tunable elements and the design that will all be true to Ford."

Wider role for van division

Ford Pro, the firm's commercial vehicle arm, has long been the main profit driver of its European operations and in the future will push further into developing software-based services enabled by more advanced EVs. But it will expand its product line-up too, including the new Transit City electric van that has been developed with Chinese firm JMC.

Ford will also launch a new Super Duty variant of the Ranger pick-up, which is intended for use by emergency services and the military as well as in heavy-duty industries such as forestry and mining. It can tow up to 4.5 tonnes, has a payload of close to 2.0 tonnes and features beefed-up suspension and extra underbody protection.

Ford has used the Super Duty badge in the US since 1999 for a range of extreme commercial variants of its F-Series pick-ups.

First look at seven-seat Skoda Peaq ahead of 23 June reveal

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 08:40:00 +0100

Enyaq's bigger brother gets sleek Modern Solid styling - and we've had a promising first taste already

Skoda has previewed the design of its upcoming Peaq SUV flagship ahead of a full debut in the coming weeks.

The new seven-seater – which Autocar has driven as a prototype (below) – will use an extended version of the MEB platform that underpins the smaller Enyaq and Elroq, and face off with the likes of the Peugeot E-5008 and Mercedes GLB Electric.

New sketches released by the brand show how the big SUV will be defined by Skoda's minimalist new Modern Solid design language, which was first deployed in its entirety on the little Epiq crossover.

Headline features include the distinctive 'tech deck' grille motif at the front, the T-shaped LED light clusters, thick D-pillars and what Skoda calls a "volcano-shaped" front bumper.

Karl Neuhold, who led the exterior design, said: "In designing the exterior of the Skoda Peaq, we consistently applied the Modern Solid design language, combining clean lines, balanced proportions and distinctive elements.

"Precisely sculpted surfaces and clearly structured details create a confident, timeless presence, while signature features such as the T-shaped headlights and Tech-Deck Face express Škoda’s identity in a new electric era.”

Skoda will reveal the Peaq at a dedicated event in south-eastern France on 23 June, before a market launch after summer.

Sneak Peaq: First drive in Skoda's seven-seat EV

Who doesn’t love a literally named car? Smart Fortwo, Hyundai Coupe… erm, Toyota (M)id-Engined, (R)ear-wheel-drive (2)-seater? There’s a lot to be said for a consumer product that just does what it says on the tin and doesn’t have over-blown aspirations of universal applicability, so you immediately know what it is.

Here’s another good example: the new Skoda Peaq - so called, obviously, because it’s the largest, plushest and most expensive car the Czech firm has yet made (and not, as some thought, as a contrived phonetic tribute to the late VW Group supremo Ferdinand Piech). It’s a characteristically no-nonsense approach to model designation that’s in keeping with the brand’s ‘Simply Clever’ ethos - even if, slightly confusingly, it’s launching at the same time as a much smaller crossover called the Epiq - a name with similarly superlative connotations. And where does Superb fit into that? Maybe ‘Good’, ‘Gooder’ and ‘Goodest’ would’ve been cleaner.

Anyway, the Peaq will be unwrapped in summer as the fourth entrant into Skoda’s swelling family of pure-electric models. At 4.9m long, it’s around 250mm longer than the Enyaq, Skoda’s current EV flagship, and 110mm longer than the combustion-engined Kodiaq, to which it will basically serve as the electric equivalent - complete with seven seats.

The heavy camouflage of our test car leaves a lot to the imagination, but the finished product won't be too far removed from the Vision 7S concept which previewed it – and Skoda’s new ‘Modern Solid’ design language – in 2023. You can see the bold new T-shaped light clusters, for a start, and the Peaq will follow the Epiq in wearing the striking ‘Tech Deck’ motif on its front end.

The Peaq rides on the same VW Group MEB platform that underpins Skoda’s other EVs - albeit with a bit more metal between the axles. My test car had a single 282bhp motor on the rear axle and an 86kWh battery which claims more than 380 miles of range, and can charge at up to 195kW. This battery will also power the 90X twin-motor range-topper, with 295bhp, while the lower-powered ‘60’ entry version will use a smaller, slower-charging 59kWh battery and a single 201bhp motor. Expect prices to range between £50,000 and £60,000 - in line with toppier versions of the Kodiaq, and significantly undercutting the likes of the Kia EV9, Volvo EX90 and Hyundai Ioniq 9.

Probed on the possibility of a hot vRS version, product bosses would only grin and tell us that “anything is possible” - so expect that to follow closely behind the standard car.

So far, so familiar - but aside from being its biggest model yet, the Peaq does introduce a number of significant firsts to the Skoda range: there’s a one-pedal driving mode, vehicle-to-load charging functionality, an electrochromatic panoramic roof, a pair of magnetic phone chargers, a Relax package with a reclining seat and fold-out table, a jazzy Sonos sound system, and the door handles are electrically retractable (don’t worry, they have a hammer function to bash themselves out when frozen, and will deploy automatically in the event of a crash).

The 13.6in touchscreen is vertically oriented for the first time, as well, which Skoda says allows for clearer segmentation of content: you can have the map or camera views at the top, in your line of sight, and the buttons at the bottom, so you can reach them easily without lifting your arm from the sliding centre armrest - which does feel much more natural and gives you a better chance of jabbing the icon you were aiming for.

Otherwise, though, the crisp graphics and logical menu structures are all familiar from other Skoda models, so broadly speaking the upright screen makes little difference to how you interact with the car while moving, the only real negative being that installing the screen this way meant there wasn’t enough space for the neat, clicky Smart Dials from the Superb and Kodiaq.

A 170mm increase in wheelbase and flatter floor translates to a tangibly roomier cabin than that of the Kodiaq: Skoda claims 58mm more legroom in the second row and a significant 84mm increase out back. I had to slide the middle row all the way forwards to get comfortable in the rearmost seats, so they’re definitely still off limits for taller passengers, but kids will find them plenty spacious - and there’s still a decent 299 litres of capacity behind them (measured to the roof). That rises to a whopping 935 litres with them folded – slightly up on the Kodiaq – and there’s a 35-litre front boot, too, but that’s best just used for the charge cables.

On the road, it feels predictably (and pleasingly) like a big Enyaq - which is to say impressively composed, sensibly tuned and surprisingly manoeuvrable. The satisfyingly weighted steering is responsive and quick enough to help mask some of its substantial bulk, even on the tight and highly congested roads around Lake Como, and the 9.9-metre turning circle of this RWD version – smaller than a Golf’s – means you don’t miss the rear-steer systems that are fitted to some more expensive cars of this size.

It rides as smoothly as its smaller siblings, too; no Peaq will come with air suspension, but even on steel springs and with chunky 20in wheels (you can also have 19s or 21s), it was commendably unfussed by the more challenging sections of our route - if a little boomier inside, perhaps, by dint of its more cavernous cabin.

My test car was equipped with adaptive dampers as part of the Dynamic Chassis Control package, with 14 levels of adjustment ranging between Comfort and Sport, but as tends to be the case with such systems the default middle-ground setting provides the best real-world balance - the sportiest setting being overly twitchy in its reactions and the other extreme a bit too treacly and languid.

As for outright shove, there’s more than enough of it. I didn’t get much beyond 40mph in my time at the wheel, and didn’t have an opportunity to prove the incongruous 7.1sec 0-62mph time, but the Peaq feels decently energetic off the mark - with smooth take-up and a nice, linear acceleration curve that mitigates the tiresome, dizzying head-lolling you sometimes get with generously endowed EVs.

I’d wager this mid-rung powertrain will emerge as the sweet spot in the line-up, with the cheaper version likely to feel a bit short on puff and stamina, and the 4WD variant sacrificing a good chunk of range and refinement for the sake of a few extra bhp and improved rough-road ability.

Skoda cites the Peugeot E-5008 as the only real direct rival for the Peaq, with Europe’s EV seven-seater market otherwise largely composed of high-priced premium options and Chinese newcomers. Much rests on our first exposure to the finished car, which we’ll drive towards the end of the year, but all signs point to this being a real contender for supremacy in a segment that’s still in its early days.

5000 miles in a 2005 BMW 3 Series: Can you daily drive a modern classic?

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

We trade ADAS bongs and touchscreens for a simple straight-six coupé, making tweaks to bring it up to date

The last time I ran a 2005-model-year long-term test car was, more or less, in 2005. But here we are again. This is an E46-generation BMW 330Ci coupé and, I have to say, it's rather good.

At least it was when it was new. The 330Ci had a 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine with no turbos and made 228bhp at 5900rpm and 332lb ft at 3500rpm. It had a six-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, hydraulically assisted steering, an actual knob to change the stereo volume and no bongs that went off when it couldn't read a road sign properly. It is a car from a previous era, and if you think I'd like that sort of thing today, you'd be right.

This one has 89,000 miles on it and was bought a few months ago on and by eBay, which still owns it. The company paid £8990 for it and spent a few grand giving it a few modifications to bring it more up-to-date inside, and over the coming weeks we will give it a few more.

Some of these are really very useful; others show what can be done. It now has phone mirroring, a reversing camera, dashcams, a GPS tracker, blindspot monitors, a head-up display and some more besides. I'll come to those in a moment.

First, though, to the 20-year-old 330Ci experience. Next to a modern car, and particularly an EV, this BMW sits low. It isn't especially short, at 4.5m long, but it is narrow, at less than 1.8m across the body.

There are normal handles for its long, frameless doors, which open on to an interior whose material quality still feels good, like its ergonomics. You can seat yourself low if you please, in electrically adjustable seats that are showing some wear but largely retain their comfort and support, and there is a really sound driving position, with a hugely adjustable steering wheel and major controls precisely where you would want them. The steering wheel is round and there's even somewhere to put the key.

I sometimes wonder where it all started to go wrong, but clearly it wasn't here.

The upgrades eBay has made so far refresh the interior rather well. What I hadn't realised, and one reason I suspect eBay is happy for us to spend some time in this car, is that it has an Assured Fit programme, which money-back-guarantees that parts you order will fit your car.

Barely anything comes without phone mirroring or a reversing camera these days, and the 330Ci's £220 head unit, which has red backlighting to its buttons, feels decidedly well integrated. The head-up display and blindspot monitoring pods less so, but I'm finding I read the speed off the display more than the conventional dial, so it's evidently effective.

That mid-2000s driving experience - and here's where the future modifications will come in - has survived 20 years and 90,000 miles relatively healthily. If you drove one of these at the time, or even a manual, rear-driven BMW more recently, the character still shows through.

The pedal weights are reassuringly firm, the steering has some weight to it and the gearlever action still retains the slightly rubbery but positive shift feel that all manual BMWs had. There's some heft to it but, from halfway into a gear, the lever drops home, welcomed into place by some over-centre mechanism somewhere in the gubbins that feels as tight as ever.

The drivetrain feels as good as I suspect it ever did too. I'm not one to thrash old cars, but it revs freely and with what now, in a world of turbocharging, is a relatively unfamiliar feeling of torque and power building smoothly and linearly - no boosts, plateaus or flat spots. Only GT Porsches tend to feel like that these days.

If there are signs of its age, and I think there are, they come from the chassis. The word 'tired' would be overstating matters, but it's the first one that comes to mind. The 330Ci is still a comfortable and relatively composed car, but as metal ages and gets worked it does fatigue; likewise suspension bushes and more will tire.

If you would spend two decades with the car, I doubt you would notice the gradual ageing, like not clocking the lines on your face as they gradually appear in the mirror. But getting into one 20 years from new, there is a feeling of slack not a lot, mind here and there.

Good news: we have a budget to make a few more upgrades to the car. I'd like to give it a chassis refresh without spoiling things. Owners' forums talk of spring and damper kits that can be too harsh, and this 330Ci will be tested by other journalists after its time with us, and I don't want to be the man who my colleagues think have ruined a perfectly good car. So I'll be going carefully, trying to bring the chassis back to structural rigidity, and refreshing the parts that aftermarket dampers don't reach, to give the standard suspension a proper platform to work from.

The plotting and planning for this has already begun, so more on that in the very next report. In the meantime, I'm finding that even a time-worn 3 Series coupé is one of life's more pleasurable things.

Update 2: The first fault

I think I've identified the areas that I'd like to update on our eBay-owned E46 BMW 330Ci project car, having spent the past few weeks driving it in its standard form. I'd like something to stiffen the shell and something to refresh the suspension - probably by replacing all of the bushes.

When I mentioned the car and the project to some engineers while out driving the new Jaguar Type 00 recently, I was struck by both how many owned or spent time with older BMWs, and encouragingly one told me bushes would make the biggest difference.

I came away pretty excited. This 330Ci was a good driver's car when it was new. It still is now, but it will be nice to bring it back as close to factory as possible. I also think an Alcantara-clad steering wheel would be cool, just because I'm a sucker for the material, and I think a limited-slip differential will tighten up the traction and make it feel nicer on corner exit.

I've identified the parts on eBay, which should all fit hunkily dorily because of the company's Assured Fit programme, and by the time the next report comes around, the work should have been done. In the meantime, daily driving a 20-year-old, 90,000-mile car hasn't been totally straightforward - as I might have expected, because that's the average age of my cars and they sometimes have problems too.

Things just wear out on older cars - although let's not pretend new cars don't have issues either. The BMW had a problem with a front offside brake that started binding. The first time it happened, I could feel the steering wheel shimmy after I pulled away from a junction, but it eased off before I found a safe place to stop to check what was wrong. Then it occasionally repeated. I could identify which corner was the problem by the heat coming off it. I pulled off the relevant wheel and cleaned up the caliper sliders, but that didn't sort it. Its next journey, though, is to a pretty cool garage to have those modifications done to it, so I've added the brake to the list of work. I'll tell you all about it next time.

Mileage: 89,600

Update 3: Have I ruined it?

Gulp, deep breath: have I ruined it? To recap, I've been driving a 90,000-mile, 21-year- old BMW 330Ci (E46) for several weeks, knowing a budget allowed by its owner, eBay, to make some choice modifications, was coming. I wanted to give it a suspension refresh and stiffen the body without turning it into a harsh road racer.

I buy quite a lot of parts from eBay already, and I'm not just saying this because this car belongs to the company. I've got a couple of old cars and a motorbike stored in the 'My Garage' section of its website, which is near-essential because it limits searches to parts that will fit a specific vehicle from an otherwise overwhelming number of results. So I added the 330Ci to my garage too. It's also useful because you know parts will fit and you can send them back for a refund if they don't.

I opted for a bush rebuild kit (£140) for the rear suspension and new bushes for the front (which all seemingly included control arms - £292), plus a brace for the rear struts (£103) that will sit across the boot, and one for the front struts (£81). I haven't felt a massive problem with the BMW's traction but I do like a limited-slip differential so opted for one (£649) and thought/hoped that lot combined would tighten the handling without spoiling the ride.

The car has at some point had a decent exhaust put on it, which is a little boomy, so I thought a big air filter kit (£206) might add some induction noise to balance it. And then I opted for a new steering wheel (Alcantara-finished £319).

Seven parts, then, for £1790, and to fit them I booked an appointment with a delightful man called Derek Drinkwater, an American-car specialist whose garage does a lot of telly work and who recently recreated Cadillac's 'Le Monstre' Le Mans racer and then toured around the US in it, pulling a tiny caravan. Also: very serious garage envy.

A few days later I got the car back, and have I ruined it? Thank heavens, I have not. It still retains much of the suppleness it seemed to have before, with just some of the softness and squidge that I thought was due to wear in the bushes and the body dispelled. Its steering feels sharper too, even though it's wearing winter tyres, which usually move around more than regular tyres. But it's better: tauter yet no less comfortable.

Downsides? A couple. Stiffening the shell has led to it occasionally creaking a bit in tight manoeuvres. And I think turn-in is slightly more reluctant, as is the way with a slippy diff. But traction is improved and it has a nicer corner exit stance, so I'm calling this a win overall. Trailing the brakes into a bend helps. This is all noticeable at normal road speeds, by the way. I don't often drive like my trousers are on fire on the road.

The car is giving subtle messages about stance that are palpable through its lovely new steering wheel. The induction kit doesn't make a huge difference most of the time, either, but is a bit raspier at high revs, and it looks cool if, like me, you're childish. So I'm happy, relieved and really enjoying the 330Ci as a daily. It's engaging, narrower than modern cars and plenty refined enough. Soon there will be more to do: the differential oil needs changing after 500 miles and a service will be due shortly afterwards.

Mileage: 90,040

Update 4: Is this truly a usable daily driver?

Now that our E46 BMW 330Ci has had its fill of drama and excitement, having had its suspension given an overhaul and a minor brake issue resolved at the same time, I've been able to set about enjoying it as a daily driver.

And, as one, it's very pleasant. It wears its 90,000 miles and 21 years well. The age of the average car is rapidly increasing in the UK and currently stands at around a decade. New cars either aren't affordable or desirable enough, or a combination of both, which means that more and more of us are sticking with our older cars.

Thankfully cars like the 330Ci are up to it. As Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said last year: "The days of them rusting away before your eyes are well and truly behind us. Even a 20-year-old car with a full service history can be a good bet for someone seeking a bargain buy that still looks up to date."

That could sum up the 330Ci entirely. Its owner, eBay, bought one of the best old 3 Series coupés it could find and so, despite the miles and the years, I just expect it to start every morning whatever the weather and not throw up a series of error messages in doing so - something it's managing deftly.

It has been on a few noteworthy trips lately. I took my munchkins to Daytona karting in Milton Keynes after the younger one, then the elder one and then the younger one's girlfriend said in turn that they rather fancied some low-horsepower, high-thrills excitement. It was pretty wet and cold but we had a lot of laughs (let's gloss over who set the fastest lap), and I thought my lad's observations were fairly spot on when he said that the 330Ci fitted in extremely well with the rest of the car park.

There were lots of what I would consider daily-friendly enthusiast's cars: BMWs, quicker Fords or Volkswagens, plus Land Rovers and, well, you know - the 'right' sort of car. Ones that were made to be engaging to drive.

Then I went to a garage in my local town to have a 500-mile oil change on the limited-slip differential that was fitted at the same time as the suspension upgrades (and the Alcantara steering wheel I haven't finished boring on about yet). I'd been meaning to visit Classic Collective, a classic car workshop in Bicester (they will basically do everything), for ages, but the BMW's needs gave me the shove I required. Cool place: nice people, cars and coffee.

A mid-2000s BMW is towards the newer end of the cars they look after, but given it's a similar age to the cars I own, I will be using them again. The diff oil had quite a lot of swarf in it, which is why its maker recommended it had a 500-mile change. But given how much was there, I'm going to get it changed again when the car needs a service and an MOT test in a month or so.

Finally I took a Sunday drive over to Gloucester, which I'd love to say was a pleasure but, through no fault of the BMW, it was a stressful drive, in peak pothole season. I took a scenic route over but spent my entire time on edge, weaving between holes in the road, so took the big, boring route home. The BMW aced both of them.

Mileage: 90,440

Update 6: What about in London?

I'm up early to drive to London City airport, because it's impossible to get there from my house for 7am on public transport - and, besides, I'm a car journalist.

It brings back fond memories, too, of my time working in Bermondsey at the start of the century, when driving through east London was part of my daily routine - sometimes in E46 BMWs.

I remember the ease of the M25 before 6am and the general quiet of the M11, London's forgotten entry road - except for today, because the M25 is blocked, so it's full of people diverting south and then back out east towards Dartford on the A13.

And I like how genuinely quiet the Docklands roads around the airport can be at all times - remarkably so, given it's an international hub bang in the nation's capital. If landing here and getting into a cab were your first taste of the UK, you would wonder where everyone was.

I think our 330Ci looks great in this environment. And if it weren't for red routes everywhere, I'd stop to photograph it here more too. The buildings that sprung up in the late 1990s and early 2000s were designed at the same time as this car. It would have featured in architectural models and renderings, so that prospective tenants could imagine this sleek silver 3 Series coupé with a suave 20-something City trader at the wheel - not a 50-year-old baldy with backache, as today, but still, I'll live the part.

While it's a sports coupé, the 330Ci makes this kind of commute easy. Sixth gear is long, the steering is heavy and exceptionally stable around the straight-ahead and it will approach 40mpg if you try.

And you know how people treat you differently in different cars? Drivers of 3 Series coupés must come across as either willing to put their foot down or slightly scary people, because nobody ever acts aggressively towards it. No tailgating, no bullying - very different to being in my Audi A2, even though I drive it in much the same way.

Being in traffic is less pleasant. The clutch is heavy, which is a bit wearisome. Control weights don't have to be heavy to be engaging, and the modern trend - allowed by electric power steering, I suppose - has been for lighter weighting in recent years. But I like the positivity of the 330Ci's pedals and steering and accept it, even to the fact that it doesn't like crawling in second where most cars would lug it out.

Shock horror: I've found a time when it beeps and bongs. It's when the temperature falls below 3deg C. Which means in the one early-morning journey per year when the air hovers between 2deg C and 10deg C, it might beep three times. Quaint, really. Overreactive ADAS this is not.

Next day, job over (incidentally, if you enjoy flying, banking right over The Shard so close you could touch it is one of the world's best airport approaches), I head home in one of the more miserable journeys I've had. A shut M1, a crash on the M40 and roadworks on minor roads all conspire to make me too late to swap the 330Ci for my just-serviced A2 at Bicester's Classic Collective.

The BMW had its service and MOT prep here a week previously, where the good people noted that it needed new belts. They had been squeaking during really cold and damp mornings, but they had got over it and been quiet ever since.

However, when it came to it, the technicians also thought some of the pulleys looked tired, so they placed some on order and we arranged that I'd call in to drop the BMW off when I was next free, which happily coincided with the chance to swap back into the A2.

So as I write, the 330Ci is getting some TLC - probably the last time it will have any particular attention before it returns to its owner, eBay, in a couple of weeks.

Mileage: 91,540

Update 7: Coupe shows its practical side

It occurred to me the other day that I hadn't tried sitting in our E46 coupé's rear seats. Turns out they're fine, really. Access is the bigger issue than space. I don't think you would want to fold infirm relatives in and out, but some forum users say they've used 330s as their only family car. Many firms offer a tidy seat delete pack, though - popular with those who turn these into track or fast road cars.

Mileage: 92,100

Update 8: Is our 330Ci a keeper?

Our time with this modernised E46 BMW 330Ci is almost up, but it has just required a little more remedial work. When it went in for a service prior to its MOT test (from which it got a clean bill of health), the technicians thought that some belts needed replacing, but when it came to doing them they realised that the pulleys would want renewing too.

I've since taken the car back to my friends at Classic Collective in Bicester to have that done. When I received a text to say it was ready, they said that if I waited 45 minutes it would be cleaned by the time I arrived. They host cars and coffee events for car clubs and had been giving the place a little spruce-up prior to a weekend gathering, and pleasingly the 330Ci got caught up in a wider sponging operation.

Pleasing because I've spent enough hours on cold remote hillsides stubbing freezing fingers against intricate alloys, cleaning them for photos, that I'm decidedly slack at cleaning cars when I don't have to.

It did mean another trip to a garage. That isn't unexpected for a 92,000-mile car, but it is the kind of routine that's worth bearing in mind if you decide that running an older used car as a daily is a better idea than a new one on the drip of finance, which will need little more than a cursory glance once a year. This is the way I prefer to run cars (and this car's owner, eBay, is accepting the costs for this) but I get that it doesn't work for everyone.

If you want to try to know exactly what motoring will cost you per month rather than be left a little to fate, a new finance deal with service plan would, I suppose, be the way. But that would mean missing out on a car as exciting as a 330Ci, which would be a shame, especially given that it cost less than £10,000 when it was most recently bought.

It's not like the 330Ci is unreliable, either, and there's good online support for common issues. On one forum, a commenter wrote that the biggest likely problem is tripping up a kerb when you turn around to look at your 330Ci after you've parked it because it's so effing awesome. But more broadly, subframes can crack and corrode, the underbody can rust elsewhere, suspension towers can benefit from reinforcement plates and the cooling system needs keeping an eye on, especially as hoses go brittle.

There are loads of new or used parts, though. I've been wondering what I would do next if the 330Ci were hanging around, given that I have another daily too. The world of E46 3 Series in regular use is still incredibly broad, from cheap 320d Touring 'dog walk cars' to perfectly preserved M3s, with something like this 330Ci somewhere in the middle. If it wasn't an essential daily driver, I think it would be nice if it received mods to best highlight its mechanical layout and driver appeal, mostly by making it lighter.

The quickest and easiest way would be to start by removing the rear seats, plus a lot of softer bits like carpets and soundproofing, although I suppose there's a point where it would start to become tiring on long journeys. I've found carbonfibre bonnet and bootlids for £1600 a pop, some motorsport alloys would reduce the unsprung mass, then I guess some light front seats could come in, although before you know it if you've gone to so much trouble that you've effectively got a track car. So chuck in a roll-cage and apply some racing numbers.

The good thing about a car like the 330Ci is that it's one of those cars that could do everything.

Mileage: 92, 946

Update 9: Insurance woes

A reader writes with a warning about fitting a limited-slip differential, as we have to our E46 coupé. I thought £650 plus fitting was quite good value, but that might not be the end of the costs. Our reader's insurer wanted to treble his premium after he fitted one. By calling around he reduced that to a 60% increase, but still. Gulp.

Mileage: 92,980

Update 10: Better and better

There were a few creaks when manoeuvring at very low speeds after the 330Ci received new suspension bushes and braces front and rear, but the noises seem to have gone away largely now. Not sure where they came from, but maybe things like that take a few miles to bed in and settle - or I've just got used to them or I'm driving around them. But I don't think so. Anyway, glad to not hear it.

Mileage: 93,011

Final report: A sad farewell

For the past few months, I've been driving this 330Ci, an old- school BMW of the type that once so epitomised the brand. It's a rear- wheel-drive, five-seat coupé with a naturally aspirated straight six and a manual gearbox - a kind of car that nobody makes any more.

Wearing nearly 90,000 miles on arrival but corrosion-free and in good condition, it's a car that would retail for around £9000 - which is what its owner, eBay, paid for it.

Then they set about giving its technology a refresh, by adding an Apple CarPlay-compatible head unit, blindspot monitors and some other useful additions. But it also came to us with a budget to make some more modifications to it. I will come to those. First, though, to the experience of a mechanically standard 330Ci. It's a car that was showing the age of the E46 generation of 3 Series relative to its rivals by 2005 (it had been on sale since 1997), but that doesn't matter a jot today. It feels great, compact by modern standards, at less than 1.8m wide across the body, with keen RWD handling and a loping ride that is more comfortable than I remember it being at the time. It's a really great cruiser.

And what a drivetrain. I'd have had no idea that it had done nearly 90,000 miles if the odo hadn't said so. It felt as tight and responsive as I'd always thought a new BMW did, with a supremely smooth engine whose power builds gently and linearly and a shift that retains the beefy positivity and slight rubberiness that it had when new.

There's a beef to the BMW's controls all round, with heavy pedals and a meaty steering weight too. These were quite common at the time but you will find much less evidence of them in today's cars, even today's BMWs, which remain among the more positively weighted cars on the market. I liked it then and I like it now. I don't think cars need hefty controls, but when they're this linearly responsive I'll take them.

The 330Ci's interior had stood up to the test of time well, too. I liked most of the mods that had already been made to the car (phone mirroring is one of the most useful infotainment innovations that the industry has made over the past two decades), but the fundamentals of this 3 Series cabin remained. By today's metrics it has a very straightforward and simple layout, with terrific ergonomics, soft lighting and seats that were showing a bit of wear but remained both supportive and comfortable.

The 330Ci didn't need modifying, but there was a budget for it, so I went for a small chassis refresh. It's possible to go big with aftermarket suspension kits on used BMWs (many are turned into fast road or track or even race cars) but I didn't want to do that. Instead I wanted to bring it back closer to where I think it would have been when it was new, before the years and the miles had taken a (small) toll on the chassis' rigidity.

Bracing across front and rear struts and new bushes all around would do, I thought, then I added a limited-slip differential, which I thought would improve traction, and an Alcantara-covered steering wheel, just because I like them.

The changes did largely what I'd wanted them to, bringing a bit of life and tautness back to the 330Ci without ruining the ride, although I think the bracing also introduced a couple of creaks at manoeuvring speeds until it all settled in, at which point it mostly went away. The differential did improve traction nicely, while reducing some corner entry keenness - a balance I was happy with too.

The 330Ci needed more work than a new car, perhaps inevitably, even if it hadn't been for the mods. There was an MOT test, for one, plus a brake binding issue that was sorted at the same time as the suspension refresh was occurring. And during its pre-MOT service some wear items (belts and pulleys) were flagged that I wouldn't have experienced if I'd bought a new car on the drip. But it's not like new cars don't go wrong either, and there's a strong following plus lots of back-up for enthusiast cars like the 330Ci.

Running a 20-year-old car isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy it. There's a compactness and (relative) simplicity and level of mechanical interaction that's absent from more and more new cars. And if it's a bit more involving to look after and tend to the needs of something two decades old, I can live with that. We should do it again.

Test Data
BMW 330Ci
Mileage
At start	88,920
At end	93,431
Prices
Used price then	£8990
Used price now	£8990
Price as tested	£13,027 (including recently fitted options)
Options
From new, largely unknown. Before coming to us: blindspot monitoring, new infotainment system, dashcams, reversing camera, head-up display. While with us: limited-slip differential £649, Alcantara steering wheel £319, front control arms and bushes £292, air filter kit £206, rear bush rebuild kit £140, rear strut brace £103, front strut brace £81
Economy and Range
Claimed range	31.0mpg
Fuel tank	63 litres
Test average	34.1mpg
Test best	36.2mpg
Test worst	31.8mpg
Real-world range	473 miles
Tech Highlights
0-62mph	6.7sec
Top speed	155mph
Engine	6 cyls in line, 2979cc, petrol
Max power	231bhp at 5900rpm
Max torque	221lb ft at 3500-4750rpm
Gearbox	6-spd manual, RWD
Boot	410 litres
Wheels	8.5Jx18in
Tyres	225/40 R18 (front), 255/35 R18 (rear), Pirelli Sottozero
Kerb weight	1522kg
Service and Running Costs
CO2	244g/km
Service costs	Service and MOT test £400
Other costs	None
Fuel costs	£896
Running costs including fuel	£1296
Cost per mile	29 pence
Faults	Brake binding

"Product is king": Stellantis pivots back to volume in bold growth plan

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0100

Stellantis will launch 60 new cars and 50 "significant" refreshes as part of new strategy

Multinational giant's “straightforward” reboot in US contrasts with trickier path to success in struggling Europe

“Product is king.” That line from Stellantis’s head of American brands, Tim Kuniskis, nicely summed up the company’s investor day, in which the multinational giant attempted to wash itself clean of the failures of previous CEO Carlos Tavares and present a plan that walked the tightrope of promising growth in a no-growth environment.

The 21 May event was a very different affair than that of 2022, when Tavares first presented his vision for the newly formed 14-brand company, starting with the change in location from Amsterdam to Michigan.

Tavares had promised a wholesale shift to electric power, a raft of new income streams, from software to subscriptions, and a doubling of annual revenue to €300 billion (£260bn) by 2030.

Stellantis under new CEO Antonio Filosa, like all automotive companies suffering from the hangover of wild, Tesla-fuelled digital promises, has to embrace the new realities and instead focus on product and cost-cutting.

Revenues will still rise by 2030, promised Filosa, but only to €190bn, up from €154bn in 2025.

“The reset has been profound and necessary,” said John Elkann, Stellantis chairman and scion of the Fiat dynasty, in his opening introduction to what he promised would be an “ambitious but realistic plan”.

Investors at the event were told that overall vehicle sales are unlikely to grow in the company’s two main revenue-generating markets – Europe and the US – over the next four years.

So growth within Stellantis will instead have to come from launches in market sectors that the company had backed away from under Tavares or in which its brands had never been strong.

Under the plan, dubbed Fastlane 2030, Stellantis promised to launch more than 60 new vehicles globally between now and 2030, broadening its market coverage of Europe by 25% and North America by 50%.

In the US, that means mostly dropping down into cheaper segments, such as smaller Ram pick-up trucks targeting the Ford Ranger and Maverick.

In Europe, meanwhile, Stellantis will launch two new small electric cars in 2028, including the new Citroën 2CV and three new Fiat models atop the low-cost Smart Car platform.

It will also push upward with more compact models, for example a new Vauxhall SUV created with Chinese partner firm Leapmotor.

Volume had been a dirty word under Tavares, who was willing to lose market share rather than see initially high profit margins eroded.

In Europe, for example, Stellantis’s share after the first four months of this year had fallen to 15.8% from 19.7% in 2022.

After a disastrous 2025 in which Stellantis lost €22.3bn (£19.5bn), mainly due to write-downs on US EV investments left stranded by the US government's reversal of emissions targets, Stellantis is back in the volume business.

Already we see the fruits of that in the UK, with news that Peugeot is cutting its prices up by up to £7000 across the range, reflecting the new world order in which new Chinese brands determine the price ceiling in the volume segments and woe betide those who don’t follow.

What was clear from Stellantis's investor day was that Europe is the weak link in its empire. Of the €36bn allocated to Stellantis brands over the next four years, 60% is heading to the US, despite Europe leading in terms of sales, at 2.5 million in 2025 versus 1.3 million.

“This reflects where we see the strongest combination of market opportunity, brand strength and attractive returns,” Filosa said.

The US is now a walled garden, protected by tariffs and freed of any emissions constraints, allowing Stellantis to refocus on high-margin V8 pick0ups and muscle cars as well as cheaper segments.

Starved of investment under Tavares, the American side of Stellantis is now front and centre of Filosa’s reboot ambitions, with a margin target of 8-10% by 2030.

The European side meanwhile has a margin target of just 3-5%.

The home of storied Stellantis brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Vauxhall and Citroën may deliver proportionally far more sales, but it’s thin gruel compared to the US, with an average selling price of €22,600 in the first three months of this year, compared with €42,500 in the US, according to calculations made by the bank Bernstein. Consequently revenue is actually higher in the US.

Stellantis is covering off Chinese competition in Europe with partnerships with Leapmotor and now Dongfeng, allowing it to tackle the threat from the likes of BYD, Chery and MG head-on while also refilling its depleted plants.

Leapmotor will take over Stellantis's Madrid plant and have cars built at its Zaragoza plant in Spain, while Dongfeng will build high-end Voyah models at the company’s Rennes facility in France.

That will improve Stellantis’s factory utilisation rate in Europe from a poor 60% now to a “best-in-class” 80%, European boss Emanuele Cappellano promised at the investor day.

The other plant-filler will, of course, be more volume from these new models.

Bernstein analyst Stephen Reitman wasn't completely sold on the idea that Stellantis could boost volume simply by playing in new segments.

“It is axiomatic that a gap in one’s line-up does not mean there’s a hole in the market,” he wrote in a note entitled 'A Fast Lane to Where Exactly?', citing as an example strong Japanese competition in the US crossover market, where Stellantis wants to expand its single-model Chrysler brand.

In Europe, the planned 25-plus model launches by 2030 will gather 25% more market coverage but generate only 15% more revenue, Stellantis said.

Cappellano explained to journalists that the gap was because much of the volume will come from these new electric city cars with a target price of around €15,000 – below the company’s average selling price in Europe and therefore making a smaller dent on revenue.

With Europe dragging down Stellantis's profitability, due in part to new market entrants, analysts took little comfort in the plans for the region’s reboot presented in Michigan.

“We struggle to find any catalysts that revive the company’s performance in Europe,” Reitman said.

Whereas Stellantis’s strategy in North America looks “straightforward”, according to Philippe Houchois of the bank Jefferies, “the Europe strategy [is] more demanding”.

Investors will be watching the delicate balancing act required to localise Chinese tech and models through Leapmotor and Dongfeng to satisfy EU regulations and remove tariffs with the need to preserve the cost advantages they have in China.

Much of Stellantis’s profit targets will come via cost-saving – another recurrent theme among global car makers at the moment. That will be partly achieved through quality control, Filosa said, something he hopes adoption of AI will help improve.

This is doable, believes Deutsche Bank analyst Christoph Laskawi, “but we remain somewhat more sceptical on growth".

Stellantis under Filosa hasn't shed everything from Tavares’s Dare Forward plan from 2022. For example, it retains the belief that moving to software-defined vehicles using its STLA Brain software architecture from 2027 is the right path, opening up opportunities in autonomous driving with UK specialist Wayve and Qualcomm (replacing a deal to take software developed by BMW and Qualcomm).

But as with Renault earlier this year, the thrust of the investor day by Stellantis was to show that it can be a better car company by producing cars that customers will love at a price they can afford, with enough left over for shareholders.

The star of the show was Kuniskis, who delivered a back-to-basics message aimed essentially at the US dealers alienated by Tavares.

“All of the digital marketing, digital retailing, new shopping models, they can't fix a bad product, they can only amplify a good one. That's our entire strategy,” he said.

Europe, however, is a far more complex story that's likely to shift many times before 2030.

Tsars and their cars: When world leaders first took the wheel

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0100

Today the US president uses The Beast; a century ago, steam-powered Pullmans proved their worth

We recently mused on the idea of British luxury car makers collaborating on a bespoke, Trump-branded gift for the US president. Of course, there's a long tradition of special vehicles for state leaders, and indeed many of them have been true petrolheads.

'The Donald' may favour big V8s, but the first official car of any US president was powered by steam. It seems it was secretary of war William Taft who instigated the government's purchase of two White Pullman tourers in 1907.

"The cars perform countless missions for the Secret Service men and for other government officials at the 'summer capital," reported Autocar. "They have not been out of commission for an hour, despite the fact that the first 'run to the hill' is at 7am and the last at 1am. The machines are now regarded as absolutely indispensable to the expeditious handling of government work."

No wonder Taft kept using them after replacing Theodore Roosevelt – who famously preferred horseback or a train – as president in 1909.

Other world leaders had been driving for a long time by then. You might assume the first would have been Kaiser Wilhelm II, seeing as the car had been invented in Germany, but he considered it a "transitory phenomenon", not buying in until the 1900s.

Actually, one of the first was, maybe surprisingly, the sultan of Turkey, and Abdulhamid II chose a British EV. With a chassis by the Acme & Immisch Electric Works of London, his dogcart could average 5-6mph for three or four hours.

Several Indian maharajas were also early adopters of motoring although Waghji Rawaji II of Morvi's enthusiasm got the better of him when, on a tour of British industry in 1897, he requested to travel at 40mph.

"At Coventry he was taken out on a car, and the driver 'let her drop' down Meriden Hill," we reported, "the speed probably approximating 20-22mph. Long before they reached the bottom, however, his Highness called for some application of the brake, and expressed himself as fully satisfied with speed travelling. What he would have said had the forty miles speed actually been attained we can well imagine."

His contemporary from Tikari was much braver, coming to Britain in 1906 to actually race his Renault at Brooklands and do the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in his De Dietrich.

Another eminent Asian motorist was the emir of Afghanistan, having been wowed by a Wolseley-Siddeley on a 1907 tour of India. A few years later he ordered £30,000 worth of machinery from the British firm (£3.1m today) after it successfully traversed the fearsome Khyber Pass. Wanting Afghans to drive and maintain his cars, Habibullah Khan sent a large group to Mumbai to learn the nature of this new invention.

His son would inherit his interest – and on a visit to Britain in 1928, he was given a demonstration of Vickers-Armstrong's madcap new cross-country car, which could switch between normal wheels and a tracked tread.

The Tank Museum today labels this concept as "idiotic", being "very uncomfortable and hard to drive", so it's little surprise that Amanullah Khan didn't buy in. Then again, the tsar of Russia had owned something similar many years prior – a Rolls-Royce with a tracked rear and skis under the front wheels. This was kept in service for Vladimir Lenin after the 1917 communist revolution and still survives in a Moscow museum.

Like old Habibullah, Nicholas II was also an admirer of Wolseley: he gave one to a German princess when she married a Greek prince in 1903.

Enjoy full access to the complete Autocar archive at the magazineshop.com

Cars also found early regal favour in Africa: the sultan of Zanzibar had a Daimler from 1901, then emperor Menelik of Ethiopia took the wheel in 1907-perhaps encouraged by his nephew Ras Makonnen, who had been "most highly interested and delighted" with his first car ride when visiting Birmingham in 1902.

Perhaps the keenest ruler of all, though, was Spain's King Alfonso XIII, who we called 'the motoring monarch'. He enjoyed driving his own cars and in 1921 joined the throng surrounding Chitty Bang Bang on race day at Brooklands.

It shouldn't be underestimated how much clout royalty gave a car maker in this period-as shown by a 1913 Mercedes advert in Autocar.

"The world's best car," it declared. "The car which set the fashion to the world. The car of emperors and kings." Sixteen of them were listed beneath, from our Edward VII and Franz Joseph I of Austria to Japan's Taisho and Egypt's Abbas Hilmi II.

Fiat Grizzly SUV unwrapped as Grande Panda's bigger brother

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 11:12:09 +0100

New family SUV completes the Panda range; will offer choice of petrol, hybrid or electric drivetrains

Fiat has pulled the wraps off its new Grizzly – a larger version of the Grande Panda aimed to give it a footing in Europe's crucial C-segment – after first showing it in parent company Stellantis' recent strategy update.

It will go on sale later this year with two bodystyles: a straight-edged SUV and a more rakish Fastback. It's an affordable family crossover "designed for the three regions" Fiat sells in, according to CEO Olivier François: Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.

It "completes the Panda and Grande Panda families", he said, "but it's a different animal" that is intended to bolster Fiat's "revenue, margins and brand".

As a bigger sibling to the Grande Panda, it will be built on Stellantis's value-oriented Smart Car platform, which also underpins the similarly positioned Citroën C3 Aircross and Vauxhall Frontera.

The Grizzly is believed to be slightly larger than its siblings, however: Fiat said it's "under 4.5m" long, while the C3 Aircross and Frontera are just under 4.4m long.

It will be offered with the same choice of petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains as the Grande Panda.

The Grizzly forms part of a wave of new Fiat products aimed at bolstering the Italian brand's coverage of the affordable car market and attracting new buyers.

Also on the way is a new four-seat microcar (pictured below in green) to sit above the Citroën Ami-based Topolino and a new electric city car inspired by the original 1980s Panda.

This new sub-£15k entry EV will be produced at Stellantis's Pomigliano plant in Italy alongside a reborn Citroën 2CV, taking heavy design influence from its 1940s forebear.

Unlike Citroën, Fiat didn't go so far as to preview the design of its new entry EV, but François promised that "the real design is not the revival of an icon, it is literally the next icon".

Miles better? The best EV is the one you can't always have

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0100

When an Audi A5 gets a four-cylinder and the S5 gets a V6, you know what's what, but what about EVs?

If you long for the good old days when BMW model numbers referred to the engine capacity (just don't mention the 3.2-litre 745i, the 1.8-litre 316 or countless others that didn't), I've got bad news for you: the car industry's product planners are hard at work devising new and arcane naming schemes in an effort to not make EVs sound like inkjet printers.

These systems need to be designed, with roughly equal importance, to help customers make sense of batteries and motors on the one hand and to gently upsell them to the more expensive model on the other. I'm not sure they're succeeding with the former, but they're getting the hang of the latter.

I've written in the past about how it's a struggle to make fast EVs truly appealing. When a normal Audi A5 gets a four-cylinder engine and the S5 gets a V6, you know which one you really want. But when the base Q6 EV is silent and already very fast, why would you pay more for an SQ6 that feels broadly the same but has less range?

One possible solution is to subtly downplay the cheaper one and hope nobody notices and just upgrades. If you value order and mathematical regularity, you might have noticed something odd about the line-up of the new Volvo EX60. It goes P6, P10, P12, which begs the question of what happened to the P8. What Volvo has done is give each one a different-sized battery - something it can easily do by filling the pack with more or fewer cells. Notably, the P6's battery is substantially smaller than the P10's.

Because the P6 only has a single motor and is therefore a bit more efficient than the dual-motor P10, the gap in range isn't huge (380 versus 410 miles), but it definitely exists. This hierarchy gives you a neat range walk, in which each version has both more power and range than the one below it. More is better. So buy the spendy one. Simple. BMW has done something similar with the new iX3, giving the single-motor 40 variant a smaller battery than the dual-motor 50. Which brings us back to the case of the missing P8.

Manufacturers don't tend to comment on future products unless they're backed into a corner or want to soft-launch something, so there's nothing official, but it's easy to see what a P8 would look like: big battery, and single motor for a range of around 450 miles. It would be the EX60 we'd recommend, but I don't actually think Volvo will build it. I suspect the illogical naming is partly to keep the option open just in case but mainly to give people another reason to pony up the extra £3000 and go for the one that's not just two but four Ps better.

This whole thing also makes me wonder how much range a person really needs. Until now, the answer has always been more, because when that 300-mile WLTP range turns into a 200-mile real-world range, and you subtract another 50 for comfort, and have to deal with a patchy charging network, you need all the safety net you can get.

Now that we're seeing 500-mile WLTP ranges, 400kW charging and forests of fast chargers popping up at most service stations, you might well be happy to settle for a bit less. When I'm road testing a car, I tend to do between 500 and 600 miles in the week that I have it. The road test involves draining the battery for the low-charge acceleration run and the charging test, and with really long-range EVs like the iX3, that takes a bit of planning. If you do 50 miles a day, it might not need charging for a whole week.

Of course, the counterpoints are being able to drive to the south of France without inconveniencing yourself and the luxury of being able to stop when and where you want, instead of your lunch break being dictated by your car.

So on reflection, I don't think we've seen the end of the range race. Modern EVs probably have 'enough' range, but 'enough' is tedious, isn't it? It's nice to have a bit more. As batteries get smaller and cheaper, small and affordable cars will really benefit and luxury cars can rekindle the days of 1000-mile diesels.

But what to call them? I look forward to the Volvo EX60 Knight Industries Two Thousand. Actually, that does sound a bit like a printer with delusions of grandeur.

BYD Atto 2 DM-i

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0100

Small electric crossover is retrofitted with a petrol engine to bring plug-in hybrid motoring down below £30,000 Would you take a plug-in hybrid from a lesser-known Chinese brand for the same price as a mild hybrid from a familiar European one? It will be revealing to see how many say yes, as the BYD Atto 2 DM-i is rolled out.Other firms’ market research suggests that compact crossover buyers aren’t so interested in PHEV powertrains (perhaps because these tend to serve as a household’s second car, which doesn’t typically get the overnight parking berth next to the charger), so PHEV options in the ‘B-SUV’ class (Ford Puma, Skoda Kamiq etc) are rare. Indeed, rival Chinese brand Chery has decided to go with a simpler 'self-charging' hybrid system for its Tiggo 4 and the popular MG ZS has never been pluggable.But even if its price does overlap with that of the notably larger Sealion 5 PHEV, the Atto 2 might just prove that there is an appetite for PHEVs of this kind after all. (And BYD isn’t stopping here: its new Dolphin G will bring PHEV choice to the supermini market later this year).But with umpteen electrified ‘baby’ SUVs you could already choose from, does the Atto 2 deserve a spot on your shopping list - and is it best-served with hybrid or fully electric power? Let’s find out.

Siemens to partner 2026 Autocar Awards

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 08:49:37 +0100

The industry's brightest minds and best cars will be announced on 10 June

Autocar is delighted to announce the return of Siemens as our partner for the 2026 Autocar Awards, continuing a highly successful collaboration that began last year.

The partnership unites the world’s oldest automotive publication with a global leader in industrial software, automation, infrastructure and digital transformation. Together, we will celebrate the finest cars and the visionary industry leaders shaping the automotive industry.

"We are thrilled to welcome Siemens back as our Partner for the 2026 Autocar Awards," said Mark Tisshaw, editor of Autocar. "Last year's partnership was a tremendous success, highlighting the shared values we have dedicated to excellence and innovation in the automotive industry.

"The Autocar Awards are unique in not just celebrating the great cars but the great people who have helped make them. We're delighted to be able to do that alongside Siemens once more."

The winners of the 2026 Autocar Awards will be announced on Wednesday 10 June across all of our print and digital channels. An awards ceremony to honour our winners in person will take place on the evening of 9 June in central London.

Uday Senapati, global head of automotive, Siemens, said: “We’re proud to partner with Autocar again to celebrate an industry that continues to push the boundaries of innovation.

"From software and AI to advanced engineering, the automotive industry is evolving at pace and the highly skilled people across the sector are at the heart of this transformation. The Autocar Awards are a powerful way to recognise that talent and the role it plays in shaping the future of mobility.”

Key people awards include the Issigonis Trophy, which will be handed out to the industry's highest achiever, and our lead innovation award, the Sturmey Award. Other people awards will go the leading designer and engineer for the year and to the industry's outstanding leaders, both in the UK and globally.

Car trophies include those that go to the recipients of a coveted Autocar Five-Star road test verdict and to our Britain's Best Cars award winners.

Exclusive: New Westfield owner plans German factory, more models

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

Dutch-German track day operator Driving-Fun will move sports car specialist's production out of Britain

Westfield, the sports and kit car manufacturer founded in the Midlands 44 years ago as a rival to Caterham, has been sold to a Dutch-German company after going into voluntary liquidation.

Driving-Fun, one of Europe’s largest track day organisers, plans to continue building existing Westfield models and develop new road and racing models for what it sees as a strong and active body of enthusiasts.

Since its formation in 1982, Westfield is estimated to have put around 16,000 cars on the road.

Its new ownerm Dutch-born Peter Tunissen, founded Driving-Fun from scratch 20 years ago instead of going to university like his friends. Today, his company stages more than 100 track days per year, owns two hotels at the Nürburgring and has its headquarters at a track of its own, Circuit Meppen, located about three hours east of Amsterdam, just over the German border in Lower Saxony.

Circuit Meppen is located the grounds of a former power station, where Driving-Fun already has a 10,000sq ft factory that Tunissen believes will be ideal for the continuing manufacture of Westfield cars and kits, as well as the spare parts that he already knows are urgently needed by existing owners.

Tunissen said his deal extends only to the Westfield side of the failed UK business. The Chesil side, set up to manufacture Porsche 356 replicas, remains unsold, although the UK vendors say “conversations” are currently under way with potential buyers.

Westfield’s former boss, Nigel Trilk, said he knows Driving-Fun and Tunissen well from previous contacts and believes he is “a very positive person with great vision”.

Tunissen made clear that the Westfield acquisition “is definitely not just a routine business decision”. For years he admired the British-built cars’ combination of high performance and affordability and eventually decided to join the Netherlands’ thriving Westfield Cup racing series, which has been popular for decades and, unlike many series, survived the Covid pandemic in a healthy state.

Today, Tunissen uses Westfields for arrive-and-drive customers at Driving-Fun, as well as running more serious race cars. He estimates that there are around 60 race-eligible cars in the Netherlands alone, plus 300 road cars in the country's thriving Westfield Club.

However, he is acutely aware of the concerns of the UK’s much larger Westfield community, spearheaded by its “amazing” Westfield Sports Car Club.

Although it's less than a month since he started discussing a deal, Tunissen is already talking to two Westfield-literate UK businesses and will soon choose one to become the company’s hub in this country.

The ambition, he said, is to make increasingly rare spares freely available as soon as possible and to contain costs that might otherwise become inflated by uncontrolled EU importation costs.

For the future, Tunissen and Driving-Fun intend to have their new manufacturing facility running as soon as possible and to develop the cars along racing lines to suit customers’ well-communicated desires.

The previous owners recognised that too but never quite managed to get a range of well-developed models to market.

Tunissen is likely to benefit from some of that previous product development work, which ran to “several millions” of investment in chassis and engine development.

In the meantime, to signal his ambition and good intentions, Tunissen is planning a Europe-wide Westfield owners’ jamboree at Circuit Meppen on 21-23 August, hoping especially to attract many UK visitors.

He said he will work at top speed in the meantime “to have something good to show our visitors.”

More details will soon be available via a new website, but Tunissen invites all enquirers to contact him via westfieldsportscars@circuitmeppen.com in the meantime.

Westfield's history

Westfield was established in 1982 by engineer, racer and Lotus enthusiast Chris Smith, who named both the new business and its cars after his house in Dudley, just west of Birmingham.

He started making fibreglass-bodied, selectively re-engineered versions of the Lotus Seven and Lotus XI but within a few years ran into legal trouble with Caterham, whose owner Graham Nearn had bought rights to the Seven directly from Lotus founder Colin Chapman.

The Westfield Seven’s shape was altered to the court's satisfaction and it became the Westfield SE, the company’s most successful model, which until recently was still in production.

In 2007, Smith sold the Westfield business to Frank Turner, a former director of Lucas Aerospace, who with his son Julian turned it to engineering projects as well as continuing car making.

Under the Turners, Westfield built the famous autonomous passenger pods at Heathrow Airport, then acquired Chesil before hitting the buffers in 2022.

The third British ownership, voluntarily terminated when a key investor recently and abruptly withdrew, lasted only four years before Peter Tunissen's Driving-Fun took over this month.

Leapmotor B05 to bring 300-mile range for £29k – we've already driven it

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

New mid-sized electric hatchback is a value-focused Cupra Born rival – but is it up to the task?

The Leapmotor B05 electric hatchback will arrive in UK showrooms in July, priced from £28,995.

Undercutting the rival Cupra Born and Renault Megane, it offers an official range of 300 miles and can be charged at up to 174kW, giving a 30-80% refill time of 17 minutes.

It sends 215bhp and 177lb ft through its rear wheels for a competitive 0-62mph sprint time of 6.7sec.

The B05 will be offered in just one trim level, bringing a panoramic sunroof, 19in alloy wheels, electrically adjustable front seats and a 14.6in infotainment touchscreen that controls many key functions.

Autocar has already had an early taste of the B05 in its native China. Our first impressions can be read below:

Leapmotor B05: China's Golf shows signs of promise

In China, the Leapmotor B05 electric hatchback is called the Lafa 5 – the only model in the firm’s rapidly growing line-up with a ‘proper’ name. What pressing corporate strategy underpins that decision? Apparently company founder Jangling Zhu thought it sounded nice.

That’s according to Tianshu Xin, CEO of Leapmotor International, the joint venture with Stellantis that distributes the firm’s cars internationally. He says Zhu “wanted something different” because “this car is very sporty and aimed at different customers”.

Disappointingly, the Lafa 5 has been rebranded the B05 for international markets so that it fits more logically into the line-up alongside the similarly sized B10 SUV. Although 'B' is used by Leapmotor for what are traditionally C-segment models, so make of that what you will.

Regardless of its name, a short early taste of the B05 on a Chinese test track suggests Zhu is right that this is a different propositio from the firm’s other models – and one not without some appeal.

Measuring just under 4.5m long with a wheelbase of 2.7m, the B05 sits in classic Volkswagen Golf family hatchback territory – although as an EV with a rear-mounted motor powering the back axle, the Volkswagen ID 3 Neo is a more direct comparison.

But I mention the Golf because there are definite hints of Wolfsburg’s finest in the styling of the B05. No bad thing, I’d say. It’s actually quite pleasant up close and definitely not another generic Chinese offering.

The standard B05 is offered with a range of power outputs and battery sizes, although the UK will only take the most powerful version with the biggest battery. That means it will offer 215bhp of power, yielding a 0-62mph time of 6.7sec, with a 67.1kWh battery giving a range of 300 miles on the WLTP test cycle. Efficiency officially averages 3.91mpkWh and it can be fast charged at up to 170kW. That’s competitive for a car of this class.

The B05 features Leapmotor’s ‘cell-to-chassis’ battery pack, which is integrated into the car’s structure, allowing the cabin to sit a bit lower to the ground than some skateboard-platform EVs.

It has MacPherson suspension struts up front and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, and Leapmotor claims the chassis has been co-tuned with Stellantis to match European expectations.

The B05 also has frameless doors, which are somewhat rare on a car of this class and price point. Leapmotor seems very proud of them, and they do add a touch of class.

Inside, there’s a big 14.6in HD touchscreen and an 8.8in LCD driver display. My test car was in full Chinese spec, and my Mandarin wasn’t good enough to delve through every sub-menu, but through the screen you can set the drive modes (Normal, Eco and Sport) and adjust the brake regen and steering speed.

There aren’t as many buttons as I'd like, although key controls are at least hard-coded to the bottom of the touchscreen. I’d have liked more steering wheel adjustment, especially since the driver display seemed to be mounted unusually close to the wheel.

But it’s otherwise a comfortable place to sit. It’s light, thanks to a panoramic sunroof, and the materials feel hard-wearing, if not exactly premium. There’s plentiful storage, the front and rear seats are comfortable, there’s a 345-litre boot and there's a notable amount of space in both the front and back of the cabin.

My test car featured a few quirks, such as a fold-out tray table on the passenger side of the dashboard, which probably won’t reach the UK.

It’s worth noting the generous kit list is standard. The only option will be a choice of interior colours – and even then the choice will be light or dark grey.

I won’t pretend that a few laps of a short Chinese test track are enough to form any definitive impressions of the B05’s dynamics (or how its ADAS functions might function in the real world), but it’s clear there’s some potential here – if you keep expectations in check.

This isn’t a rocketship EV under acceleration, but it’s responsive enough, and its handling is quite direct. It maintained reasonable composure when trying to corner vigorously, with body roll kept reasonably in check. Over speed bumps and a cobbled section, the ride held up well.

UK pricing is yet to be finalised, but the B10 starts from a shade under £30,000, so you can slot this in below that. Which could make it a tempting prospect as an affordable alternative to the likes of the ID3 Neo, Cupra Born and Renault Megane.

Verdict

The B05 adds a whiff of dynamism to the Leapmotor formula. It feels unlikely to match class leaders, but stylish design and plenty of kit could make it a tempting budget alternative.

Leapmotor B05: Specification
Price	£28,995
Engine	Permanent magnet synchronous motor
Power	215bhp
Torque	177lb ft
Gearbox	1-spd reduction, RWD
Kerb weight	1700kg (est)
0-62mph	6.7sec
Top speed	na
Battery	67.1kWh (total)
Range, economy	300 miles, 3.91mpkWh
CO2, tax band	0g/km, 4%

How Stellantis tie-up can protect JLR's crucial US business

Wed, 3 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0100

Stellantis's partnership with JLR came as a shock, but there are many reasons why it makes sense

Perhaps the most eye-popping news coming out of the Stellantis investor day on 21 May was that the 14-brand company is working with JLR to “create synergies across product and technology development”, focused on the US.

After dropping that bombshell, executives firmly sealed their lips, leaving a void to be filled by fevered theories. What are we talking here? Land Rovers based on Jeeps?

But later in the day, CEO Antonio Filosa added this detail in his Q&A session with analysts: that the deal could include “capacity-sharing”, ie JLR building cars in Stellantis’s US plants.

Suddenly it started to make sense. Filosa went on to say that “the new trade conditions makes our installed capacity [in the US] very attractive to many other competitors or potential partners”.

North America is now JLR’s biggest market, as China’s wealthy car buyers shift to local brands. But that shift has coincided with the US’s sudden divergence from the rest of the world. Under Donald Trump, emissions legislation has been gutted, removing the need to electrify ICE vehicles in any way. You don’t even need stop-start any more.

For a relatively small global player such as JLR, creating cars just for the US is expensive. Ideally, car makers want legislation to converge globally. Instead the world’s biggest markets are fragmenting at a speed that is horrifying executives.

At the same time, the US has increased tariffs on imported cars – 10% from the UK and 15% from the EU. Suddenly all Land Rover models are way more expensive than locally built competition, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz SUVs.

So enter Stellantis. The question is, how deep could this collaboration go? You don’t need to puff too hard on the magic tailpipe to imagine the ‘Defender Heritage’, a Hemi V8 off-roader atop the Jeep Grand Wagoneer’s frame, leaning hard on classic design cues and filling out spare capacity at the Stellantis plant in Warren, Michigan.

Depending on how well this collaboration goes, JLR could even produce the next Defender entirely in the US, leaving its Slovakian plant to build electrified models more suited to the European and Chinese markets.

Both JLR and Stellantis need (and have promised) to improve quality levels, but their partnership could well dig JLR out of a hole created by the rapid collapse of globalisation.

New BMW M2 gains four-wheel-drive option for £74k

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 23:01:00 +0100

Rear-biased 4WD system comes alongside new pre-combustion tech for M division's straight-six engine

The BMW M2 is now available with the option of four-wheel drive for the first time, meaning every M car can now be had with two driven axles.

The M2 xDrive has been revealed ahead of it going on sale in late summer, priced from £74,255 - around £4000 more than the standard rear-driven M2.

That's also around £12,000 more than its closest comparable rival, the five-cylinder, 4WD Audi RS3 hot hatch; the M2 is now the only mainstream two-door sports coupé on the market, having outlived the Porsche 718 Cayman, Toyota GR Supra, Alpine A110, Jaguar F-Type and Audi TT RS.

It's powered by the same 3.0-litre turbocharged 'S58' straight six as the existing M2 but gains a new pre-chamber combustion process, dubbed M Ignite, which will be rolled out to all M cars from mid-2026 to make them compliant with the new Euro 7 emissions rules.

BMW said this new technology, developed in racing, "significantly reduces fuel consumption under high loads" while maintaining the performance characteristics of the S58: "instantaneous response and linear power development into the higher reaches of the rev range".

It also still offers an "emotionally stirring soundtrack", according to BMW.

As with the xDrive versions of its bigger M3 and M4 brothers, the all-paw M2 trims the 0-62mph sprint time slightly, from 4.0sec to 3.7sec, and comes equipped with the Active M differential which varies power across the rear axle to improve grip and poise.

BMW said this means it "offers drivers the inimitable M feeling through all four seasons of the year, in almost any road conditions and in all weathers, without any trade-off in performance".

In normal driving, the M2 xDrive still drives its rear wheels exclusively, with the fronts called upon when they can't send any more power to the road.

It can also be locked in two-wheel-drive mode, with the DSC deactivated - which "unlocks a driving experience of remarkable purity".

Whereas the rear-driven M2 can be optioned with a manual gearbox, the M2 xDrive is automatic-only.

Bentley Flying Spur gets fresh look and 671bhp S variant

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 15:26:33 +0100

Styling update brings luxury saloon in line with the Continental GT – and an option costing £25,000

Bentley has updated the Flying Spur to bring its styling into line with the Continental GT, as well as reprising the sporting S model.

Chief among the design tweaks is the move from the signature quad-light front fascia to a more conventional twin-lamp arrangement.

That makes the new Spur the first Bentley saloon with two headlights since production of the S2 ended 64 years ago.

Meanwhile, the small vent on the front wings has been removed and the boot now has smoother surfacing.

The S variant returns with a plug-in-hybrid powertrain that combines a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine with a single electric motor for 671bhp and 686lb ft of torque.

This is delivered to all four wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and an electronic limited-slip differential.

This allows the 2.5-tonne limousine to complete the 0-62mph sprint in 3.6sec, before topping out at 191mph.

The S also receives the active anti-roll bars and dampers used by the hardcore Speed and extra-luxurious Mulliner models, said to have been tweaked to “deliver maximum sporting appeal”.

Alongside the new look, the Flying Spur gains the Naim for Mulliner sound system that was developed for the limited-run Bentley Batur – an option that costs £25,000 before taxes.

Order books for the new Flying Spur are open now, with customer deliveries due to begin between October and December this year.

New Rolls-Royce Spectre boosts power and claims 390-mile range

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0100

New BMW battery cells boost Rolls EV's range by 18%, while max power nudges towards 700bhp

Rolls-Royce has updated its Spectre electric coupé, giving the 'Series II' a longer range, a raft of new personalisation options and more power than any previous Rolls.

This comes four years after the British luxury brand introduced its debut EV, which has since surpassed the V12-powered Ghost saloon and Phantom limo to become its second-best-seller, after the Cullinan SUV.

The Series II brings a host of technical advancements that should feature on Rolls' second EV, a Cullinan-style large SUV expected in 2027.

Chief among these is a new battery cell technology, coming courtesy of parent company BMW.

It is said to increase the Spectre's maximum range by 18%, from 329 to 390 miles, and cut charging times by 14%.

The new 'Gen6' cylindrical cells are the same as those fitted to the facelifted BMW i7, where they boost range and charging speeds by a similar amount by virtue of better cooling and greater energy density.

Like the 17, however, the Spectre continues to use a 400V electrical architecture.

Both versions of the Spectre are now more powerful. The standard dual-motor, four-wheel-drive powertrain puts out 593bhp, up from 577bhp, while the more performance-oriented Black Badge edition gains a 21bhp uplift to pump out 671bhp – as much as a Le Mans hypercar.

Torque is up too: in Normal mode, the regular Series II has as much as 749lb ft at its disposal, while the Black Badge can call on a thumping 811lb ft in its Spirited mode.

Equal focus has been placed on expanding the range of personalisation measures that Spectre buyers can apply through Rolls-Royce's increasingly lucrative Bespoke division.

As well as a new Ethereal Blue factory paint option and striking hand-finished 23in wheels, the Spectre can now be equipped with a "significantly expanded" range of interior trim options and an iced Black exterior package that swaps most of the chrome elements for matt black items.

Rolls-Royce quotes an entry price of £300,000 for the Series II but, because so many are so intricately customised, it's rare that two examples of the Spectre are the same and many cost far more than that. The average Rolls sold in the UK ends up costing more than £500,000.

New options

Duality twill

New for the Series II is a bamboo-based rayon upholstery embroidered with an 'RR' logo pattern. It can incorporate up to 2.6 million stitches and 10 miles of thread and takes up to 25 hours to put together.

Placed perforation

Buyers can have their leather seats laser-cut to reveal 'unique artworks underneath'. This night sky motif comprises nearly 80,000 individual holes.

Interior panel

LED dashboard display - inspired by the mist of the South Downs in Sussex - has been expanded across the car and now features 8108 individual pixels. There's a new clock too, influenced by 'precision aviation instruments'.

Brindled walnut

'Tiger stripe' veneer is made using wood from non-fruiting walnut trees and eucalyptus fibres. It's sealed with 'a fine powder of glass flakes' for a shimmering effect.

The first SUV made by every major car-maker

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 09:39:00 +0100

As SUVs continue their rise in global sales charts, we take a look at where the story started for all the most important manufacturers

In the year 2000, sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, still occupied a relatively small niche in the global car industry.

Today they commonplace, and only highly specialised manufacturers can get away without having at least one SUV in their ranges. In this gallery we're going to see which manufacturers have been in the SUV business for decades, and which have recently been forced into it due to customer demand. Researching this subject is complicated by the fact that there is no single, universally-agreed definition of an SUV, but that's the nature of the game.

Here, then, are the first SUVs produced by 50 manufacturers, listed in alphabetical order:

Acura: MDX

The first SUV marketed by Honda's luxury brand was in fact the SLX, but this was simply a rebadged second-generation Isuzu Trooper, which seems unsatisfying.

Acura made its proper SUV debut in 2000 with the launch of the MDX, which was closely related to the Honda Pilot and shared a platform with several other Honda models. The fourth-generation MDX went into production in January 2021.

Alfa Romeo: Stelvio

Alfa Romeo is one of many manufacturers on this list who would not have been suspected of venturing into SUV territory in the recent past. In fact, Alfa produced the Jeep-like Matta in the early 1950s, but only in very small numbers, and mostly for military use.

The Stelvio is a true crossover SUV in the modern sense, and has been built in large numbers since 2016. The Quadrifoglio version is one of the fastest SUVs in the world, with a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine which produces slightly more than 500bhp.

Aston Martin: DBX

Never a company to rush into things with unseemly haste, Aston Martin left a gap of well over a century between building its first car and entering the SUV market. The DBX is one of the very small number of road vehicles ever to have been built in Wales.

It is also even more powerful than the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, with a maximum output of 542bhp from its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, which is supplied by Mercedes-Benz. In 2021, the DBX became the official medical car for all rounds of the F1 World Championship. In 2022 a new 707 version launched, now with a 697bhp (707 PS) engine, and in 2024 it became the only DBX you could buy.

Audi: Q7

The Audi Q7 is closely related to the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg, but went into production three years later, towards the end of 2005. From 2008 to 2012, it was available with a 6.0-litre V12 TDI turbo diesel which produced just under 500bhp. This engine has never been fitted to any other production car.

The Q7 was the first Audi SUV, and the largest by some margin until the launch of the similarly-sized Audi Q8 in 2018.

Bentley: Bentayga

The Bentayga made its public debut at the 2012 Geneva Show in the form of the EXP 9 F concept. For the production version, Bentley considerably toned down the styling, which had been greeted with dismay in some quarters.

The Bentayga was unveiled in Frankfurt in 2015, and went into production a few months later. The available engines included V8 and W12 petrol units, all twin-turbocharged. A diesel version was even briefly available. A hybrid version with a 3.0-litre single-turbo V6 engine went on sale in 2018.

BMW: X5

Among the late adopters, BMW has been in the SUV game for a relatively long time. The first-generation X5 (of four to date) made its debut in 1999. Several high-performance models have been developed since then. All of them have been named X5 M.

Every generation of X5 has been built at the BMW Spartanburg plant in Greer, South Carolina, though other facilities around the world have also been used. Spartanburg is the only BMW factory in North America, and produces around 450,000 SUVs a year.

Buick: Rendezvous

Buick's first SUV went on sale in 2001 and survived for six years. Although it had a fairly short career, the Rendezvous was a successful model - notably more so, in fact, than its corporate cousin, the Pontiac Aztek, which was built alongside the Rendezvous at the GM Ramos Arizpe factory in Mexico.

Since both vehicles were designed well for their purpose, the reason for the difference in their fortunes is clear. The Rendezvous's styling was quirky in some ways but mostly conventional, while that of the Aztek verged on the bizarre.

Cadillac: Escalade

Cadillac entered the SUV market with a bang in 1998 when it put the original Escalade on sale. This and the four subsequent versions have been technically related to other, cheaper SUVs marketed by Chevrolet and GMC.

Generations two to five have included the long-wheelbase Escalade ESV. ESV stands for 'Escalade Stretched Vehicle', but the full name is almost never used. The Escalade currently dominates the full-size luxury SUV market in the United States.

Chevrolet: Suburban

Chevrolet Suburban is the longest-running nameplate in the global motor industry, having been introduced in 1935. The current, 12th-generation Suburban is definitely an SUV, and the original model definitely wasn't. Identifying the change-over point is tricky, but a case could be made for the model sold between in 1960 and 1966 (pictured).

This generation had a lot of ground clearance, and was available with four-wheel drive. The same could be said of the previous model, but in today's terms that one is more likely to be described as an MPV.The '60 Suburban was also sold as the GMC Carryall, and could therefore also be called the first GMC SUV.

Chrysler: Pacifica

The Pacifica was an early example of a crossover SUV, a type of vehicle which was starting to become extremely popular worldwide. The appeal, then as now, was a combination of plenty of interior space, a high seating position and a more-or-less car-like driving experience.

However, despite the combined might of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz, which had joined forces in 1998, the Pacifica was not a great success. Launched in early 2003 for the 2004 model year, it was discontinued before the end of 2007.

Citroën: C-Crosser

Citroën eased itself into the SUV market with the C-Crosser, which went on sale in 2007. Like the Peugeot 4007, it was essentially a rebadged second-generation Mitsubishi Outlander, though one of the available engines (a 2.2-litre turbo diesel) was provided by the French companies. (Mitsubishi also used this, along with a 2.0-litre version supplied by Volkswagen and a 2.3 of its own devising.)

The association lasted only from 2007 to 2012. Mitsubishi kept the Outlander to itself from the third generation, while Citroën and Peugeot went their own way.

Dacia: Duster

Anyone who says that Romanian brand Dacia's first SUV was the Duster is correct to an extent, but if they mean the model introduced in 2010, they're wrong. The original Duster was launched in 1980. It was really an ARO 10, but there was a strong Dacia connection.

The mechanicals were taken from the Dacia 1300, the Romanian version of the Renault 12. This vehicle was sold briefly in the UK as the Dacia Duster, many years before today's Duster came on the scene.

Dodge: Town Wagon

As with the Chevrolet Suburban mentioned previously, determining whether the Dodge Town Wagon was an SUV is very difficult because it was built so long ago. Introduced in 1956, it was a passenger version of the Town Panel truck, launched two years earlier. It had the requisite height and interior space, but it was sold only with rear-wheel drive. At the very least, it could be described as a cross between an SUV and a people-carrier.

If that doesn't sound convincing, try the 1957 Town Wagon Power Wagon. This was basically a regular Town Wagon, except that it had even greater ride height and four-wheel drive. Sounds like an SUV to us.

DS: DS6

Since DS was founded (as a brand of Citroën) as recently as 2009, it's not surprising that its first SUV hasn't been around for very long. The DS 6 was a luxury crossover built in - and only intended to be sold in - China, where it hit the streets in 2014.

The DS 7 Crossback was the brand's first SUV available in Europe. It made its debut in 2017.

Fiat: Panda 4x4

Adding four-wheel drive to an existing model does not make it an SUV, but there is a case for including the first-generation Panda 4x4 to this list. Launched in 1983, it had a 965cc version of the old Fiat 100 Series engine and was accordingly very slow indeed.

But it also had a four-wheel drive system developed by Austrian company Steyr-Puch. This was outstandingly effective, and made the 4x4 incredibly capable off-road. Many crossover SUVs on sale today would get stuck a long time before the Panda did.

Ford: Bronco

The Ford Bronco, which first appeared in late 1965, was built using the then-traditional body-on-frame method of placing a non-structurral bodyshell on a separate chassis. It was powered initially by a straight-six engine, though a V8 was soon be added to the range.

In today's terms, it would be described as a compact SUV. The second-generation model, launched for the 1978 model year, was significantly larger. Bronco production continued across five generations until 1996. A sixth version, with retro styling which bears some resemblance to the first model, went on sale in 2021 and sells well.

Honda: CR-V

Honda first sold an SUV back in 1993, but that model - known as the Passport - was really just an Isuzu Rodeo with different badging. It was followed in 1995 by the first-generation CR-V. Unlike the body-on-frame Passport, the CR-V had unibody construction, and was an early example of a crossover SUV.

Hondas with CR-V badging have remained in production ever since. The nameplate continues to be one of the best-selling vehicles in America.

Hyundai: Santa Fe

Hyundai was another manufacturer which initially dipped its toe into the SUV swimming pool with outside help. The 1991 Hyundai Galloper was a variant of the Mitsubishi Shogun.

The South Korean company's own first effort was the Santa Fe, which appeared in 2000 and quickly became popular, especially in the US. The Santa Fe has remained a success since.

Infiniti: QX4

As the luxury arm of Nissan, Infiniti was able to create its first SUV without developing one from scratch or putting its own badges on a model from a different manufacturer. The Infiniti QX4, launched in 1996, was a variant of the second-generation Nissan Pathfinder introduced the previous year.

There was more to this than simple badge engineering. The QX4 had an upgraded interior, and was fitted only with refined V6 petrol engines. The four-cylinder diesels available in the Pathfinder were not carried over.

Isuzu: Trooper

The Trooper was built for over 20 years across two generations. The earlier model, launched in 1981, was available as a short-wheelbase three-door, a long-wheelbase five-door and a not particularly popular short-wheelbase convertible.

This Trooper was also sold by other manufacturers, such as Chevrolet, Holden, SsangYong and Subaru. That process continued with the second-generation Trooper, which was rebadged as an Acura, a Honda and a Vauxhall, among other examples. In fact we recently worked out that this SUV bore no fewer than 11 different names.

Jaguar: F-Pace

Jaguar was for many years one of several manufacturers which could have been listed in a column headed They'll Never Build An SUV, and indeed former parent Ford reserved that role for sister firm Land Rover. Under new ownership, the company freed itself from these shackles with the launch of the F-Pace in 2016.

Rather than pinch one from Land Rover, Jaguar used its own platform, which had previously formed the basis for the XE and XF saloons. It then formed the basis of the Range Rover Velar, but that was introduced a year after the F-Pace.

Jeep: CJ-2A

The original Jeep, arguably the very first SUV of all, was built by both Ford and Willys for the US Army during World War II.

In 1945, Willys went into production with the first civilian version, the CJ-2A. Over 200,000 were built before production switched to the new CJ-3A model in 1949.

Kia: Sportage

Kia in 1993 was a very different company from Kia today. Back then, the best reason for buying one of its cars was that it didn't cost very much. That was certainly the case with the first-generation Sportage, which was a long way from being any manufacturer's finest SUV debut.

The model remained in production for 12 years before being replaced by the outstandingly better second Sportage. Examples of the original version sold in European market were built by Karmann in Germany for a while, though that arrangement had ended by the turn of the century.

Lada: Niva

The Lada Niva made its debut in 1977 and is, remarkably, still on sale on its home market, where it is known as the Niva Legend to distinguish it from the more modern Niva Travel. The Niva was designed to appeal to customers in rural Russia, where road conditions can be challenging.

It’s always been praised for its off-road performance. Experts in this field have rated the Niva very highly, especially given its low price.

Lamborghini: LM002

Contrary to popular belief, the Urus is not the first SUV produced by Lamborghini. That was the LM002, which was manufactured in small numbers from 1986 to 1993. Without the current pressure on nearly every manufacturer to add at least one SUV to its range, the LM002 seemed an odd sort of vehicle for a company specialising in very powerful sports cars to produce.

However, it should be remembered that Lamborghini started out as a maker of tractors, moving into cars only when company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993) decided he could do a better job than Ferrari.

Land Rover: Series 1

Second only to the Jeep CJ-2A, the Land Rover Series I was among the earliest SUVs ever developed for civilian use. The 'series' Land Rovers led more or less directly to the Defender, which was discontinued in January 2016, just under 68 years after the launch of the Series I.

Early models were marketed by Rover. Land Rover did not become a company until it was created (as a subsidiary of British Leyland) in 1978. The same basic model, offered in a variety of forms, was the only one produced by the brand until the introduction of the first-generation Discovery in 1989.

Lexus: LX

Like Infiniti, Lexus was able to create its first SUV by altering a model already being produced by its parent brand. The Lexus LX was a more luxurious version of the body-on-frame Toyota Land Cruiser launched in 1990.

The LX appeared six years later with slightly altered styling, a more luxurious interior and an engine choice limited to a single 4.5-litre straight-six petrol unit - none of the diesel engines used in the Land Cruiser were carried over. Lexus rapidly followed the LX up with the 1998 RX unibody crossover, sold in Japan as the Toyota Harrier.

Lincoln: Navigator

As with Infiniti and Lexus, so with Lincoln. The first SUV produced by Ford's luxury brand was an upmarket version of the Ford Expedition, successor to the Ford Bronco mentioned previously.

The bodyshells of the two vehicles were identical, but Lincoln made several changes to the appearance and ensured that the Navigator was better-equipped than the cheaper Ford. Both models were replaced by the second-generation examples of their nameplates in 2002.

Maserati: Levante

Described by its maker as "the Maserati of SUVs", the SUV of Maseratis first went on sale in 2016. The company had made its intention to join the segment clear well in advance. The Kubang SUV concept was unveiled in 2011.

Although it predictably out-sold Maserati's sports cars, the Levante was not universally admired. In our first road test, we described it as a "mildly interesting also-ran".

Mazda: Tribute

During the 1990s, Mazda sold SUVs called Navajo and Proceed Levante, but these were simply rebadged versions of the Ford Explorer and Suzuki Vitara respectively. The first SUV which Mazda was strongly involved in designing was the Tribute of 2000.

This was in fact a joint venture involving Ford, which had recently become a one-third shareholder in Mazda. The Tribute was also sold both as the Ford Escape and, from the 2005 model year, as the Mercury Mariner.

Mercedes-Benz: G-Wagen

The SUV now known as the G-Class was originally called the G-Wagen, short for Geländewagen, or "off-road vehicle". Launched in 1979, there was nothing "lifestyle" or "crossover" about it. It was a serious, old-school 4x4, with body-on-frame construction, angular styling, three locking differentials, and plenty of military customers.

More recently, the G-Class has been available with six wheels and a V12 engine producing over 600bhp. In some cases, the modern versions are unlikely to be used off-road, and are therefore - ironically - more "lifestyle" than the original model.

MG: GS

Complaints that a particular car was "not a true MG" date back at least as far as the introduction of the SA saloon in 1935. The same thing would probably have been said of the brand's first SUV, though since MG had been in Chinese hands for a decade before the launch of the GS in 2015 it's unlikely that staunch British enthusiasts were paying much attention any more.

The GS was joined by the smaller ZS in 2017, and replaced by the HS a year after that.

Mini: Countryman

Having made a fine job of the MINI hatchback, BMW began to apply the same principle with other types of vehicles, not always with happy results (see the Coupe, Roadster and Paceman).

The Countryman, launched in 2010, demonstrated how difficult it was to use the familiar MINI styling cues on an SUV. On the positive side, the Countryman could accommodate two six-foot adults in the back, a feat unachievable in any other MINI up to that point. It was also the first model available with the ALL4 four-wheel drive system, which was subsequently used on other models.

Mitsubishi: Shogun

Mitsubishi built Jeeps for 45 years from 1953 to 1998, but did so under licence from Willys, which (as we saw previously) had put the first civilian version into production. The Japanese company increased its involvement in SUVs by launching its own vehicle - known as the Shogun, Pajero and Montero in different markets - in 1981.

Four years later, a heavily modified derivative took the first of what would become 12 overall victories in the Dakar Rally. Built across four generations, the Shogun (etc.) lasted for nearly as long as the Mitsubishi Jeep. It was discontinued on its 40th anniversary in 2021.

Nissan: Patrol

Nissan Patrol is one of the world's longest-lived SUV nameplates. The first model, introduced in 1951, bore some resemblance to the Willys Jeep, but by the launch of the third-generation model (pictured) in 1980 the Japanese brand had gone its own way on styling.

Although the current version is unrecognisably different from the one built in 1951, the Patrol name is still being used today.

Peugeot: 4007

Like the Citroën C-Crosser mentioned previously, the short-lived 4007 was a second-generation Mitsubishi Outlander with a different badge and a smaller range of engines.

The 4007 was launched in 2007 and discontinued in 2012. By the time of the latter event, Peugeot had already been selling the 3008 (closely related to the 5008 MPV) for four years.

Porsche: Cayenne

The Cayenne went on sale in 2002, the same year as the closely related Volkswagen Touareg. Many observers thought that deviating so far from its tradition of building sports cars was not the sort of thing Porsche should be doing. The Cayenne's early sales success showed that the company had in fact chosen the right policy.

Porsche did, however, respond to criticism of the original Cayenne's bug-eyed appearance, which was modified considerably for the second-generation model.

Renault: Scenic RX4

Readers who objected to the inclusion of the Fiat Panda 4x4 on this list won't be impressed by what follows either, but here goes anyway. Renault launched the Megane hatchback in 1995, and two years later used it as the basis for the Scenic MPV. In 2000, it introduced the Scenic RX4, which had part-time four-wheel drive, revised suspension and a much greater ride height.

The RX4 performed well off-road which is enough to persuade us that it was an SUV. It wasn't great on tarmac roads, though, and Renault did not replace it when the Scenic moved into its second generation in 2003.

Rolls-Royce: Cullinan

Perhaps more than any other vehicle of the past decade, Rolls-Royce's first SUV was regarded as a sign that civilisation was about to collapse. In fact, the world has continued to function since the Cullinan was launched in 2018. The big 4x4 with its twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 has been a big success for the company, and is now its best-selling model.

Unusually for an SUV, the Cullinan is based on an aluminium spaceframe. Known as the Architecture of Luxury, this made its debut on the eight-generation Phantom, which went on sale in 2017.

Saab: 9-7X

Far more American than Swedish, the Saab 9-7X was based on the same platform as the Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Oldsmobile Bravada, and built at a GM factory in Moraine, Ohio for US customers.

Marketed as a luxury SUV and priced accordingly, the 9-7X was sold from the 2005 to 2009 model years. It was the first and only SUV to wear a Saab badge. GM sold the brand in 2010, the first in a series of unfortunate events leading to the demise of a much-loved manufacturer.

SEAT: Ateca

SEAT made its debut in the SUV market segment with the Ateca, which was launched in 2016, 66 years after the Spanish brand (and now Volkswagen subsidiary) was founded. It was one of the first models based on the A1 version of VW's MQB platform, also used for the Skoda Karoq, among other vehicles.

A high-performance version was developed for the new Cupra brand, introduced in 2018. The Ateca is therefore both SEAT's and Cupra's first SUV.

Skoda: Yeti

During a particularly inventive period in the first decade of the 21st century, Skoda came up first with the Roomster compact MPV and then with its first SUV, the Yeti. Launched in 2009, and based on a platform used widely by Audi, SEAT, Volkswagen and Skoda itself, the Yeti was both practical and charming.

By the time it was replaced by the larger Karoq in 2017, it was definitely showing its age, but it had long since built up an enthusiastic group of satisfied owners who were sorry to see it go. We wish someone would revive it as a budget model, perhaps for developing world markets; we’re sure it would sell well.

SsangYong: Musso

The complicated history of SsangYong began with various South Korean companies building Jeeps under licence. After some merging and renaming, SsangYong created its first SUV in collaboration with Mercedes. The Musso was available with a choice of engines produced by the German company, and was sold as a Mercedes in some markets.

SsangYong has continued to use the Musso name into the 2020s, but for a pickup truck rather than an SUV. SsangYong was renamed to KGM in 2023.

Subaru: Forester

Discounting the various Outback models, which are estate cars with increased ride height, the first Subaru SUV was the Forester. The original Forester made its debut in 1997. It was based on the contemporary Impreza saloon and shared that car's low centre of gravity (a happy result of the flat-four engine), four-wheel drive and soft but well-damped suspension.

As a result, the Forester was very nearly as good to drive as the Impreza (which was saying something) and of course more practical.

Suzuki: LJ10

The Hope Motor Company briefly produced a tiny and very basic off-roader with a 360cc two-stroke Mitsubishi engine in 1968. Unable to put it into volume production, Hope sold the HopeStar ON360 to Suzuki, which replaced the Mitsubishi motor with one of its own and thoroughly redesigned the rest of the vehicle.

The resulting machine, called the LJ10, went on sale in 1970 and proved to be very popular. After several major redesigns and a great many smaller upgrades, the LJ10 lives on today as the Suzuki Jimny.

Tesla: Model X

The Model X was the first SUV, and the third vehicle of any kind, brought to market by Tesla. Like every other Tesla, it has an all-electric powertrain. It is also notable for its gullwing doors and panoramic windscreen. Neither of these is unique to the Model X, but the door arrangement in particular is very unusual for an SUV.

The Model X made its debut in late 2015.

Toyota: Land Cruiser

Along with the Nissan Patrol, the Toyota Land Cruiser bears one of Japan's oldest SUV nameplates. The Land Cruiser name was applied for the first time in 1954 to the vehicle previously known as the BJ. This had been developed for use by the Japanese National Police Reserve, and combined a truck chassis, a 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine previously used in Toyota saloons and a new four-wheel drive system.

By 2018, Land Cruisers were being built in Japan, Kenya and Portugal and sold in approximately 170 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

Vauxhall: Frontera

The first-generation Vauxhall Frontera and its Opel equivalent were introduced in 1991 and replaced by new versions seven years later. The Frontera was the European version of an Isuzu SUV, and was available in three-door, short-wheelbase and five-door, long-wheelbase forms. It has been widely – and not unreasonably - criticised for not being very good, but it sold well.

Production ended in 2004. The final Frontera was also the last non-commercial vehicle ever built in Luton before the factory switched over to manufacturing the Vauxhall Vivaro van.

Volkswagen: Touareg

The Touraeg was VW's version of an SUV jointly developed by Volkswagen and Porsche. It was introduced in 2002, at about the same time as the Cayenne, and three years before the Audi Q7. The three models were mechanically similar but had their own unique styling. Engines available for the first-generation Touareg included a 6.0-litre W12 also used in the Bentley Continental.

An autonomous Touareg developed at Stanford University won the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Challenge in 2005, completing the 132-mile off-road course in under seven hours.

Volvo: XC90

News that Volvo was planning to launch its first SUV caused great excitement in the early years of the 21st century, and the XC90 was very well received when it went on sale in 2002. Based on a platform otherwise used only for saloons and estate cars, it was outstandingly successful.

Volvo was able to keep selling it in most markets for 12 years with only minor updates before replacing it within another model of the same name. The original vehicle, renamed XC Classic, remained on sale in China for two years after that.

30 Dream Cars for under £30k

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 09:38:47 +0100

Perchance to dream… Had Shakespeare been around today, chances are he might have been referring to his next car rather than to the next life.

After all, who doesn’t spend half their waking hours scrolling through car ads, imagining themselves at the wheel of something they can’t afford, such as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?

It passes the time but leads nowhere – so instead, scroll through these 30 choice motors no dearer than £30,000. Agreed, it’s a significant sum, but many of them are less than half that and some cheaper still. Dream on…

ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE

Although the V8 Vantage never graced the 007 franchise, it still looks like something Daniel Craig might have driven in Casino Royale in 2006, had the DBS V12 not got the gig instead. No worries; today, used DBSs start at around £60,000, while for half that you can get into a Vantage with the later and more powerful 4.7 V8 rather than the launch 4.3.

WE FOUND Aston Martin 4.7 V8 Vantage auto, 2009/09, 50,000 miles, £29,000

CATERHAM SEVEN

After perhaps on a motorcycle, life doesn’t get much more exciting than behind the wheel of a Caterham Seven. There’s a bewildering number of varieties to choose from, so keep things simple with a straightforward, Ford Duratec- powered 1.6 putting out 135bhp. It’s not a lot of grunt, granted, but in a car weighing only slightly more than a bag of sugar, it’s enough. Pay an expert to scrutinise it.

WE FOUND Caterham Seven 1.6 Ti-VCT 270 S3, 2018/67, 8000 miles, £18,995

BMW i8

Autocar once put an i8 up against a Porsche 911. The 911 just edged it, but we accepted that people might have preferred the i8’s futuristic design and technology. Those attributes remain and, better still, prices now start at £25,000. They’re reliable things, so concentrate on the condition of the body and doors.

WE FOUND BMW i8, 2014/64, 78,000 miles, £27,490

AUDI R8

The noughties poster car still stirs the blood. The 5.2 V10 is the one people want, but prices start well above our £30,000 ceiling, so the 4.2 V8 it is. Fret not, though, because back in 2007, when it was launched, Autocar’s testers voted the R8 4.2 the best car they had driven all year. Budget for a clutch every 20,000 miles.

WE FOUND Audi R8 4.2 FSI V8, 2009/59, 87,000 miles, £27,500

PEUGEOT 205 GTi

Prices are all over the place for this perfect little slice of hot hatch heaven, so research the field thoroughly. Fortunately, it’s fine to buy a cheap project car, because the 205 is easy to work on and parts availability is excellent. There’s also a very knowledgeable community you can tap into. The 1.6 versus 1.9 debate still rages, but it’s the drive that counts and that’s special whichever engine you choose.

WE FOUND Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi, 1989/G, 126,000 miles, £10,995

BMW M2 COMPETITION

Autocar awarded the M2 Competition four and a half stars and declared it one of the best driver’s cars of 2018. In these times of obscenely expensive cars, that you can get one in rare and desirable manual form for just under £30,000 – or a little over half the model’s new price before the inevitable extras (which, incidentally, our find has) – is a cause for celebration.

WE FOUND BMW M2 Competition, 2019/19, 46,000 miles, £29,200

CITROEN 2CV

Are we having a laugh? In fact, there are enough 2CV fanciers around to suggest this quirky car with its clattery, air-cooled, twin-cylinder engine, roly-poly suspension and have-a-go gearchange is a genuine dream car. Aside from checking the cardboard air tubes aren’t about to self-combust or the kingpins about to seize, check for terminal rust.

WE FOUND Citroën 2CV, 1989/G, 55,000 miles, £7500

FIAT COUPE

Unless you were around in 1993, you won’t know of the excitement that accompanied the arrival of the Fiat Coupé. Back then, Fiat was a brand with an image little better than it has now, yet there it was springing one of the most daringly styled cars imaginable. Happily, the Coupé drove well and was powered by a choice of three delightful engines – but, boy, can it rust…

WE FOUND Fiat Coupé Turbo 16v, 1996/N, 38,000 miles, £9995

FORD MUSTANG

Obviously, the real Mustang dream car is a 1968 GT 390 Fastback in Highland Green. On our hunt for its £30,000 present-day equivalent, we chanced across a 2019 Bullitt edit ion 5.0 GT with 80,000 miles for £31,450 – too much, so our pick is a standard GT. With early Mustangs like it, check the interior is holding up, the clutch is good and the engine isn’t rattly. Our find has a full Ford history so should be fine…

WE FOUND Ford Mustang 5.0 GT, 2016/66, 31,000 miles, £25,995

FORD FOCUS RS

“The 300bhp [Mk2] Focus RS shreds the rulebook on front-wheel-drive dynamics,” said Autocar and duly awarded it five stars. Checks include pulling out the dipstick to listen for escaping air while the engine is running and feeling for driveshaft, clutch and suspension wear.

WE FOUND Ford Focus 2.5 RS, 2009/09, 57,000 miles, £22,975

JAGUAR F-TYPE

The F-Type R’s 5.0-litre, 32-valve V8 packs 542bhp and 502lb ft, enough to catapult the car to 62mph in 4.0sec. It also costs impressive numbers to tax (£735) and insure (it sits in group 50). Make sure its numerous recalls have been followed up, the cam-chain tensioners aren’t noisy, the fuel pumps aren’t failing and the rear differential isn’t leaking.

WE FOUND Jaguar F-Type 5.0 V8 R, 2014/14, 66,000 miles, £29,995

LAND ROVER DEFENDER

Old, slow and crude it may be, but for many people, an old Defender is their dream car. For some, it’s the compact and chunky 90 model; for others, the longer and more practical 110 we’ve featured here. It’s a later model powered by the trusty and torquey Puma 2.4-litre diesel motor from the Ford Transit. Whatever you track down, condition is more important than mileage.

WE FOUND Land Rover Defender 110 2.4 TDCi XS, 2010/59, 38,000 miles, £28,495

LOTUS EVORA

In the Evora, Lotus chassis brilliance meets Toyota reliability. Our find, an approved used example with the Sport (switchable modes, oil cooler, titanium exhaust) and Tech (rear parking sensors and camera, upgraded media system) packs, looks tempting. Prices start at around £23,000 for 276bhp cars and a couple of thousand more for the cheapest 345bhp S models.

Check gear cables on early cars, the ECU for over-revving, signs of track abuse and the cabin for wear and tear.

WE FOUND Lotus Evora 3.5 V6, 2011/61, 62,000 miles, £27,990

LOTUS ELISE

Unfortunately, the era of cheap Elises is behind us, but buy a good one today and it’s unlikely to lose anything. What you will get is one of the most enjoyable cars this side of a Caterham but with a dash more civility.

By now the engine should have been cured of most issues (head gasket and radiator among them), so instead examine body gaps and paint condition, check the rear subframe isn’t hanging off, listen for a whiny diff, feel for tight steering and suspension and make sure the hood is okay.

WE FOUND Lotus Elise S1, 1998/S, 47,000 miles, £19,995

MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG

A neighbour has owned one of these since it retired from life as a Mercedes-Benz World track car. Almost every weekday morning for the past 13 years, he has hoofed it, from cold, down the road. Its sound alone would qualify it for dream status, except the C63 is also a terrific driver’s car, and - especially in wagon form - also practical with it.

Check for lambda and thermostat issues, excessive oil consumption, cracked rims and an overly creaky interior.

WE FOUND Mercedes-Benz C63 V8 AMG Estate, 2013/13, 87,000 miles, £17,995

MINI JCW GP

There are plenty of small hatches we could have chosen, but beside the first-generation Mini GP, they’re all a touch ordinary. Here’s a car with an extreme bodykit, a proper mechanical diff and an extra 7bhp over the regular JCW’s 208bhp.

That doesn’t sound like much, but the GP is 50kg lighter than the standard model (it has no rear seats and little soundproofing). The result is a car that’s quick, even sharper in the bends and, yes, a bit noisy.

WE FOUND Mini 1.6 Cooper S JCW GP, 2006/06, 84,000 miles, £13,500

MORGAN PLUS 8

Enough folk have grown up believing claims that the Morgan Plus 8 was once the fastest- accelerating car, and that you had better put your name down for one at birth if you want it before you retire, that acquiring one has become a life’s ambition for many. That it was produced by bearded artisans in the shadow of the Malvern Hills just adds to its allure.

Best bought from a specialist or its owner.

WE FOUND Morgan Plus 8 3.9i, 1994/L , 24,000 miles, £28,750

VAUXHALL VXR8

Yes, £18,500 does seem a lot for a 16 -year-old Vauxhall, and we would have preferred it to be the later, supercharged 6.2 GTS-R version, but with just 15 of those cars delivered to the UK and one recently selling at auction for £71,000, the ‘standard’ model it must be. Behind the griffin badge, it’s a Holden Special Vehicles Clubsport R8 from down under, so imagine you have been dreaming of owning a genuine Aussie muscle car and here it is.

The VXR8’s V8 makes a decent 425bhp and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox (there was an optional automatic). The engine can take more power, but be sure any performance modifications have been expertly done, and check the foot wells aren’t damp and the interior is holding up.

WE FOUND Vauxhall 6.2 VXR8, 2009/09, 50,000 miles, £18,500

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S

The 997-series 911 built on the achievements of its predecessor, the 996, being even better to drive, available with the brilliant PDK dual-clutch automatic gearbox and still reasonably compact. Stories of bore scoring and IMS bearing failure haunt both generations, but they were rare events and, in any case, many cars have since had pre-emptive fixes.

WE FOUND Porsche 911 3.8 Carrera S PDK, 2009/09, 88,000 miles, £28,995

SUBARU IMPREZA

With more varieties of Impreza Turbo than Heinz soup, you really need to know your WRX 22B from your P1. So just go for a limited-edition RB5 instead. Launched to celebrate Richard Burns’s return to the Subaru rally team, it’s one of the best versions of the first- generation Impreza Turbo and now a future classic that’s still relatively affordable.

Beware poor mods, body repairs and over-stretched engines.

WE FOUND Subaru Impreza RB5, 1999/T, 87,000 miles, £15,995

VW GOLF GTI

The Mk1 Golf GTI is a genuine dream car, perhaps more for what it represents than anything. That said, you will love the heightened sense of connection and the visibility past those narrow pillars. GTIs are not cheap, as our find – a two-owner car in good, unrestored condition – shows.

However, the seller has just replaced all the consumables and fitted new Bilstein suspension struts, brake callipers, belts, a clutch and an exhaust.

WE FOUND Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTI, 1983/Y, 80,000 miles, £18,450

TOYOTA GR YARIS

A former winner of our Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car competition, and a Britain’s Best Driver’s Car podium finisher, the 257bhp, 266lb ft GR Yaris was brilliant out of the box. The 0-62mph-in-5.5sec Circuit Pack sharpened it further with the addition of stiffer springs, dampers and roll bars, lighter wheels and Torsen limited-slip diffs front and rear. New it cost £33,500, so our four-year-old find represents a handy saving.

WE FOUND Toyota GR Yaris Circuit Pack, 2021/70, 43,000 miles, £24,990

MASERATI GRANTURISMO

The growly Granturismo 4.7 is more than an antisocial nuisance. It’s a full four-seater, for a start, and then there’s the ride and body control, which, on standard springs, is impressive. Choose a well-used and well-serviced car over an apparently mint low-miler and run a mile from the optional and potentially troublesome Skyhook suspension.

WE FOUND Maserati Granturismo 4.7 Sport auto with MC Pack, 2014/64, 51,000 miles, £29,999

HONDA INTEGRA TYPE R

Honda could have named this model the Integrity, because that’s how the firm approached it. No corner-cutting here: the Integra had a stronger bodyshell than standard models, balanced by lighter wheels, a thinner windscreen and less sound-deadening material.

Its 1.8-litre engine got high-compression pistons, hand-finished intake ports and a modified VTEC system, too. It made 187bhp but was required to haul just 1170kg. Beware rusty rear wheel arches and underside.

WE FOUND Honda Integra Type R, 2000/W, 90,000 miles, £12,750

BMW M3

A near-perfect size, remarkably communicative and powered by a characterful 3.2-litre straight six, the E46-gen M3 numbers among Autocar testers’ favourite used M cars. However, it has its problems, including a potentially troublesome Vanos timing unit, the risk of head gasket failure and the possibility of a worn rear axle carrier.

WE FOUND BMW M3, 2002/02, 67,000 miles, £22,990

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED

Prices for early Contis have been low for a long time, but signs are they’re firming up. These cars end up on all sorts of forecourts, but we favour a private purchase such as our find. It has done the mileage but counts only two former keepers and comes with a full Bentley service history.

WE FOUND Bentley Continental 6.0 W12 GT Speed, 2008/58, 92,000 miles, £18,995

AUDI RS6 AVANT

Shoehorning 10 cylinders into a family car is, of course, bonkers. The C6-gen RS6 may have delivered supercar performance, but the price was supercar levels of technical complexity. Our find is a private-sale car, giving you a chance to quiz the owner in detail about its history.

WE FOUND Audi RS6 V10 Avant, 2008/58, 112,000 miles, £22,995

BMW M5

There are many great M5s, but most enthusiasts of a certain age would agree the E39 of 1998 -2003 is the one they lusted after for its perfect chassis balance, V8 power and slick gearbox. Today, the best ones cost £50,000, but high-mileage examples start at around £18,000.

The model is tough but the steering and suspension need careful checking. From cold, listen for the Vanos unit playing up and be sure the differential isn’t leaking.

WE FOUND BMW M5, 2000/X, 102,000 miles, £25,990

BMW Z3 M COUPE

To create the Z3 M Coupé, BMW engineers took the Z3 roadster, attached a solid roof to it and stuffed the 3.2-litre straight six from the E36-gen M3 under the bonnet. The market wasn’t persuaded. Then, for some reason (probably to do with its rarity), prices skyrocketed, but they have recently started falling again.

A sloppy gearchange is an expensive fix, and also check the boot floor for cracks and listen for engine and suspension noises.

WE FOUND BMW Z3 M 3.2 Coupé, 1998/S, 59,000 miles, £29,990

MERCEDES-BENZ SL

Cruising the riviera then gunning it down the autobahn: the R230-gen SL 55 AMG with folding Vario-roof is two cars in one. Our 2003 find is the 493bhp version, good for 0- 62mph in 4.7sec. Repairs and upkeep aren’t cheap, so buy the best you can, taking care to check the engine is oil- and coolant- tight, the electrics and suspension system are behaving, the aluminium body is dent-free and the roof operates smoothly.

WE FOUND Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG, 2003/03, 63,000 miles, £12,995

HOW TO BUY - DOS AND DON'TS

With each of the cars featured on these pages, we have suggested specific things that you should look out for when buying one. In addition, there are some general dos and don’ts you should follow.

DO…

Test drive a few examples to establish a benchmark.

Buy with your head, not your heart.

Check the car’s mileage, provenance and MOT history.

DON’T…

Research the market and widen your search beyond the obvious classified sites.

Buy privately. You can tell a lot about a car from the person selling it.

If necessary, pay an expert to check the car for you. They could save you money in the long run.

Prioritise a low mileage over condition and service history.

Buy from a dealer with little experience of the model.

Spoil your dream by compromising too much on colour and specification.

Buy the first car you see. There will be a better one.

A £150 sim rig made me a teenage racing prodigy – and a better real-world driver

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Sim racing is the most accessible and tangible way to revel in cars when the real thing is beyond your means

By the age of 14, I had driven a Group C Jaguar XJR-9 around the Nordschleife, conquered the Col de Turini in Colin McRae's Impreza and crashed a Veyron at 250mph. At least that's what I told my mum.

Sim racing is, quite simply, the most accessible and tangible way to revel in cars when the real thing is beyond your means. I'll spare you the sob story but, as the middle of three children to a single mum in suburban London, there was simply no way I was getting behind the wheel of a go-kart or out on a farm in a knackered old Land Rover: we couldn't afford it.

What I could afford, though, was a Logitech G27 steering wheel and pedal set, purchased for the princely sum of £150 by saving up all my Christmas, birthday and pocket money for a year.

Bolted to my bedroom desk and hooked up to a PlayStation 3 with a fan so loud you would have thought Concorde was taking off, it was a lifeline for someone utterly obsessed with cars but with no opportunity to really get involved. And there was genuine craftsmanship honed in doing so, too.

Thanks to the lifelike handling offered by games such as Gran Turismo 6 and Dirt 3, I learned the basics of car control: the bum-puckering looseness of a Toyota MR2's rear end when slowing from high speed while cresting the hills of the fictional Deep Forest Raceway; the utter silence of steering feel that descends when you hit a patch of Alpine ice in a classic Mini; the sheer joy of putting terrible tyres on a BMW M4 and attempting to slide the entirety of the glorious Streets of Willow circuit.

No longer was I a misfit schoolboy battling quadratic equations and, er, the Battle of Trafalgar: I was Ayrton Senna, John Cleland, or whoever I damn pleased - just as soon as I'd eaten my tea and done the dishes, anyway.

Racing games are a fantastic teaching tool. Don't take my word for it: take that of the legions of professionals who got their break in this world. Rally driver Jon Armstrong, for example, won the World Rally Esports Championship in 2018 and today competes in the actual World Rally Championship. And Formula 1's leading light, Max Verstappen, is almost as passionate about digital racing as the real thing.

As for little old me, I passed my driving test first time out with zero minors. Yes, that's a brag, and no, it's not a championship title, but it's an achievement that I credit entirely to those years spent in my bedroom learning the fundamentals of operating a car. Because by the time I was finally in the driver's seat, I already knew roughly how to make the machine work and could just concentrate on doing so safely, within the confines of the rules.

If you have a budding young enthusiast in the house at a loss as to what to do in their spare time, get them a good force-feedback wheel and pedal set and some games to play with it. Gran Turismo is a great start. You might just have a future champion on your hands - or, at the very least, you'll make them a much safer, more engaged driver when the time comes.

"Not just rebadging": Stellantis pledges distinct brands despite shared tech

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Stellantis will invest first in a Peugeot, which will then spawn other brands' related cars

Multinational giant will refocus on four key 'global' brands yet promises more individualism for the other 10 it owns

Future models from the 14 brands that make up the Stellantis empire will be more differentiated, despite the increasing use of common platforms and technology, according to its European boss.

The multinational giant recently announced a £52 billion transformation plan that will include 110 new models. The move will involve significant cuts in spending, the use of new, shared platforms and 70% of investment going to four key ‘global’ brands: Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot and Ram.

Stellantis will introduce a new catch-all architecture, STLA One, on which the bulk of those new vehicles will be built, with increasing shared technology.

Despite that consolidation, European boss Emanuele Cappellano told Autocar that the plan will actually lead to greater differentiation between brands.

“We really don't want to be misunderstood when we talk about what is a global brand, what is a regional brand, which is a specialty brand,” said Cappellano. “We are not ranking the brands in terms of relevance. The point is how we can be smart in terms of capital allocation.

“The main difference between a global brand and the regional and specialty brands is just the timing for the first application of investment.

"So with the STLA One platform for the B- and C-segment, Peugeot is the global brand. That means we are going to invest first in launching a Peugeot-branded model on that new platform, new electric architecture, the STLA Brain [software stack] and new technology like steer-by-wire.

“In the meantime, we're working on the following launches on the same platform, where most of the effort, in terms of capital expenditure, is on diversifying – really diversifying – the models and line-up and not just rebadging.

"So you will have the new Peugeot first and after that you’re have a new Vauxhall that is not a rebadged Peugeot, then an Alfa Romeo, a Jeep or whatever.”

Cappellano said that the investment on each model would go on design first, “because we need to change the design, body type and shape and brand attributes”, along with “all the features that are characteristic for each and every brand".

“What we understood, and this is basically what is the driver of this decision, is that our brands, especially the mainstream brands, are recognised for very specific product attributes," he said. "So we need to enhance those product attributes in the future with investment for that brand.”

Cappellano insisted that STLA One is an entirely new architecture and not a development of the STLA Medium that it effectively replaces, because “the only way to be competitive in BEV is to have a dedicated native-EV platform”.

Facelifts, off-roaders and more JCW: Mini on cusp of new design era

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

New designer Holger Hampf is shaping Mini's future

New designer is "almost finished" with a range of significant facelifts that will kick off design refresh

Mini has “almost finished” work on a range of significant facelifts that will herald a new era for the brand under design chief Holger Hampf.

The German joined Mini from Designworks, BMW’s Californian design consultancy, in October 2024 but has yet to have an opportunity to make his mark, given how new the British marque’s range is (the Cooper hatchback and Countryman SUV arrived in 2023 and the Aceman crossover a year later).

In his first meeting with UK media, Hampf told Autocar that “you will see my work in an upcoming LCI” – ‘life cycle impulse’ being the BMW Group’s term for a major model update.

Hampf said this will be an “important milestone” for the Mini brand, steered by “customer feedback from this generation”.

Given the line-up is still relatively fresh, it’s likely that a restyled Cooper and Countryman will arrive late next year and a refreshed Aceman in 2028.

To this end, Hampf also hinted that Mini is working on an off-road-focused variant of one of its existing models, saying: “We’ve witnessed the trend of the outdoor lifestyle and driving out of the city to spend some days in nature. Can our car do this? Certainly, so expect something in that direction.”

This would most likely be based on the Countryman, given that it’s the only Mini currently available with four-wheel drive and its raised ride height would lend itself naturally to such a “lifestyle” vehicle.

While Hampf’s initial focus will be on facelifts, he did confirm that work has also begun on the next entirely new generation of Minis, which are expected to arrive in the early 2030s.

What defines Hampf's Mini?

Of the Mini brand’s many design signatures, Hampf highlighted proportion as the most important, saying: “You can ask a Brit or a German or an Italian – you can ask a five-year-old – and they will recognise a Mini based on the proportions of the car, especially when it comes to the Cooper.”

To that end, Hampf committed to the future of the three-door variant, despite all rivals having abandoned this format, saying: “The three-door hatch will always be our anchor and it will always be the product that we will care for as much as possible.

“You’ve seen some experimentation with the Countryman’s size, and even the Cooper has grown in size, but that’s not necessarily a design decision: it’s based on regulations, pedestrian safety, sensor technology and the customer’s desire to have [ADAS] functionality in their cars.”

Can Mini go smaller?

“Mini has the largest portfolio in its history,” said Hampf, pointing to the three-door and five-door Coopers, three-door Convertible, Countryman and Aceman. “That’s good for now. However, you see we’ve always explored how to branch out from the Cooper and offer more.”

Hampf has gone through Mini’s back catalogue of concept cars to inform any new opportunities, and he said he “loves things like the Urbanaut [MPV] and Rocketman [city car]”, while the Superleggera [roadster] was “super-nice”.

Nonetheless, “there has to be a business proposition” for any new model that Mini does decide to build, and Hampf asked of the Superleggera: “Is it only for fun?”

As for the Rocketman, the 2011 vision of a Mini closer in size to the 1959 original, Hampf said: “The size discussion about Mini – growing smaller or bigger and so on – we have every day.

“You have to see what’s happening in the world: as long as people prefer to buy bigger cars than smaller cars, it can be dangerous for a business to say ‘we’ve watched the micro-mobility market and there are certainly cities like Paris, Madrid or Milan where this works really well’.

“Quite frankly, I’m 1.9m [6ft 2in] tall. Maybe this is my personal opinion, but a Mini was always good for going out to the market in the morning, driving your kids to school and going to the opera in the evening. Try to do that with some of these concepts.”

Hampf added: “I can’t do things that aren’t cool. I’m not saying that going smaller is not a possibility, but it has to fit into today’s lifestyle as well.”

Hotter JCW cars coming

John Cooper Works, Mini’s high-performance sub-brand, is expected to adopt more distinctive styling to further set its cars apart from regular models. Hampf said there is “air to the top” of the JCW range and drew a parallel with the differentiation between BMW’s M Competition and M performance cars, suggesting that a more extreme take on the Cooper-based JCW hot hatch is in the works.

This won’t be another track-focused GP model, however, suggested Hampf: “We’ve done something right in not only thinking of the GP, which we’ve done in the past.”

Hampf pointed to Mini’s recent collaboration with fashion brand Deus Ex Machina as “one experiment” regarding the evolution of JCW, with “bigger tyres and bigger spoilers”. It is possible that, given “such positive response” from the public, toned-down versions of the two Deus Ex Machina concept cars (named The Skeg and The Machina) are being primed for production.

A record 25,630 JCW cars were sold last year, an increase of 59.5% compared with 2024. Mini pointed to the UK, Japan and Australia as instrumental markets. Mini CEO Jean-Philippe Parain recently told Autocar that there are “still some possibilities” to expand the JCW offering, saying that it would push the hot hatches “very strongly”.

Vauxhall Corsa used buying guide: Make sure you buy the right one

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 12:44:14 +0100

A lot of supermini for the money - and there's petrol, diesel, hybrid and EV to choose from

In 2021 the Vauxhall Corsa finally became Britain's best-selling car after more than 30 years of trying, and it remains a consistent fixture of the top five to this day.

It thoroughly deserves its commercial success too, because it's well-rounded, pleasant to drive, decently equipped and available with a broad mix of powertrains.

Its popularity also means there is an abundance of current, 'F'- generation Corsas on the second- hand market - many for a bargain price, with the earliest 2020 cars starting from less than £5000.

The Corsa F is closely related under the skin to the Peugeot 208, sharing its CMP platform, powertrains and dimensions. A keener driver will tease out subtle differences in chassis set-up, but the two are so similar that your preference largely rests on which one you prefer the look of.

Let's assume it's the Vauxhall. (And why not? It's a handsome- looking thing.) Most used F Corsas are 1.2-litre Puretech petrols with the tricky disintegrating wet belt (see Buyer Beware, right), or you can up your budget for the later, more reliable chain-driven motor, which also brought the option of mild-hybrid power.

Longer-haul drivers will like the idea of the 1.5-litre diesel, which has enticing cruising economy (70mpg) and decent refinement, but it's relatively scarce. There's also an electric model. Now available from just £7500 with a 175-mile real-world range, it's one of the best used small EVs out there.

Regardless of powertrain, all Corsas share a compact exterior (it's less than 4.1m long), with an interior to match. While the space up front is generous enough, the back seats are more cramped for average-sized adults and a Polo, Ibiza or Fiesta will be more spacious. But the Corsa's 300-litre boot is about right for the class. It feels decently premium and well-built inside too.

The 10in infotainment system - or 7in on pre-facelift (before mid-2023) lower-spec versions - is simple to use and it's supported by physical buttons to operate key functions. On the road, the Corsa is easy to rub along with. The 1.2-litre petrol is smooth and torquey, the diesel impressively vibration-free and the electric version punchy and supremely quiet at low speed.

The sense of big-car refinement and quality is broken over coarse roads, when the ride feels wooden. It's not great on 17in alloys but is passable on 16s - and the EV has a more settled ride than ICE cars. Most Corsas have an adequate 99bhp from their 1.2-litre turbo petrol. Some early versions had just 74bhp and were naturally aspirated, while a 128bhp tune came with a hesitant auto gearbox. We'd stick with a six-speed manual 99bhp car, which should be good for 50mpg and 0-62mph in a little over 10sec.

In 2024 a couple of hybrids joined the range (with 108bhp or 143bhp) offering 60mpg and a smoother dual-clutch automatic gearbox. With the EV (134bhp or 154bhp), the later you go, the better the range. Early 50kWh cars will do 150 miles in the real world, but later versions boost that to 175 miles, and a heat pump was offered as standard from 2022, keeping that range more realistic in the winter. In 2024 a 51kWh battery was added as an option, boosting the real- world range to 200 miles. There's plenty of choice, then, and plenty of rational appeal. It's a sensible kind of car that offers quite a lot for not very much outlay.

What to look out for

Petrol engine: The degrading wet belt is a potential ticking time bomb, but frequent, high-quality oil changes can prevent a costly failure. A chain-driven 1.2-litre petrol (optionally hybridised) is a safer bet and you can spot it by the oil cap being to the left of the middle of the engine cover, rather than the front left.

Diesel engine: The 1.5-litre diesel has a traditional timing chain but it is also prone to premature failure, causing extensive engine damage, even after a 2022 recall that replaced the 7mm chain with an 8mm version.

Clutch: A sticky pedal action could be a problem with the master or slave cylinder, the release bearing or the return spring. Budget up to £1000 for the first two, or around £100 for the last two.

Gearbox: Problems often occur at around 30,000 miles and mainly affect manual transmissions. Grinding or crunching noises indicate wear, which in some cases may require replacement of the entire gearbox, although a software update of the transmission control unit or an oil change can help.

Infotainment: It's never been the quickest or slickest system, but turning the car off and on again should solve any glitches and crashes.

Interior: Faulty clips can make it difficult to operate the folding rear- seat mechanism. Occasional failures have been reported with the electric windows and occupancy sensors.

Also worth knowing

A Corsa loses value far more quickly than a Polo, Fabia, Fiesta or Mini - which means it's a buyer's market. The less you spend, the less you lose when the time comes to move the car on. A facelift in mid-2023 made the Corsa look more distinctive and upmarket with the introduction of the brand's new 'Vizor' face. Before the facelift, trims ascended through SE, SRi, Elite (all with the option of Nav, Premium and Nav Premium) and Ultimate. We'd recommend SE Nav Premium as it's very well equipped and doesn't have the ride-inhibiting 17in alloys. Since the facelift, trim levels have been Yes, Design, GS and Ultimate.

How much to spend

£5000-£7499 Well-used, often low-spec ex-company and driving school cars. Check for a fastidious service history and evidence of a belt change (petrol) or chain change (diesel).

£7500-£9999 More desirable specs and lower mileages (around 60,000) plus EVs for roughly a £1000 premium.

£10,000-£13,999 Low-mileage, high-spec three- and four-year-old petrol Corsas and a few diesels.

£14,000-£30,000 Facelifted cars from 2024 onwards, chain-driven petrols and hybrids. Corsas from 2026 start at £16,000.

An owner's view

April Sparkes: "I've just bought a new, unregistered Corsa Electric for £16,000 from a Vauxhall main dealer and couldn't be happier. People criticise the depreciation of EVs, but at that price it doesn't look like it will lose money any faster than any alternatives. I was looking at getting an automatic petrol initially, but the problems I had with my old Peugeot 208 and the fact that I never drive very far decided it for me. So far, it's been smooth sailing and has saved me a chunk of change in petrol too."

Kia EV4 hatch now cheaper than smaller EV3 due to upgraded grant

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 12:21:44 +0100

EV4, pictured, gets a bigger grant than the EV3 because it is built in Slovakia

Larger car has secured the full £3750 Electric Car Grant from the UK government, meaning it now starts at £30,995

The Kia EV4 hatchback has qualified for the upper tier of the UK government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG), making it cheaper than the smaller EV3.

The upgrade to the full Band 1 grant of £3750, up from the previous Band 2 grant of £1500, means the EV4 in entry-level Air trim now starts at £30,995. It offers 201bhp and a range of 273 miles between charges.

That's £560 less than the equivalent EV3, despite the EV4 being a larger car – and despite the two models being closely related in their technical make-up, sharing batteries and motors.

The EV4 is now cheaper because the EV3 still qualifies only for the lower Band 2 discount of £1500.

That's because it's built in South Korea, whereas the EV4 is built in Slovakia: the ECG takes into account the emissions from the car's supply chain, and shipping the EV3 over from east Asia raises those significantly.

The fastback version of the EV4, which is likewise imported to the UK from South Korea, doesn't receive the ECG whatsoever, being too expensive at £40,495.

The upgrade in the EV4 hatchback’s banding brings its pricing back into line with key rivals that had already qualified for the full £3750 discount.

These include the Mini Countryman E (priced from £29,555), Citroën ë-C5 Aircross Long Range (from £32,565) and Renault Scenic E-Tech (from £33,245).

Meanwhile, the smaller Kia EV2 Long Range – which is assembled in Slovakia, using a European-made battery – is expected to be upgraded to the full £3750 grant in due course, cutting its price from £27,995 to £24,245.

Kia UK already offers its own discount of £3750 on the long-range EV2, but that will be replaced by the ECG if this model variant receives approval for Band 1 status.

Mercedes GLB Electric

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0100

Mercedes takes its seven-seat EV below £50,000 and adds 320kW charging for good measure In the few months it has been on sale, the new Mercedes-Benz CLA has already become a common sight on UK roads. Clearly the idea of a compact premium EV with a long range appeals to buyers.A saloon is all well and good but the SUV is now king, so that’s what we have here. On the same underpinnings as the CLA comes the new Mercedes-Benz GLB. It takes over from both the old piston GLB and its electric EQB sibling. It launches as an EV, but hybrid versions will follow soon. Like its predecessors, the GLB is slightly unusual for a car of this size in offering seven seats. In a market flooded with coupé-aping SUVs, that could give it really distinguishing utility.In launching the super-aerodynamic CLA first, Mercedes has set an impossibly high standard for the GLB, because the CLA impressed us with its Tesla-chasing efficiency and its mature, balanced ride and handling. Those key strengths will be necessarily diminished in the GLB as a result of being a taller, heavier SUV.However, if it can maintain enough of those qualities, while adding a useful dose of family-friendly practicality, the GLB could be another winner for Mercedes.

I built a Renault 5 from Lego – now you might be able to buy it

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 10:17:54 +0100

Civil engineer Dave Collins tells us how he built a superb recreation of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E

Dave Collins' superb Lego recreation of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E could soon be headed to a shop shelf near you, having passed a vital stage in its approval by the plastic brick maker.

Collins' model was submitted to Lego Ideas – the platform on which fans of the bricks can post their own models, with the potential for them to become a real set – in April, soon receiving the backing of Renault UK. It has now attracted 10,000 public votes of support, meaning it will be passed to Lego insiders for review.

"We will build concept models and determine if the concept meets our high standards for what it takes to be a Lego product," the Danish company said. "This includes factors such as playability, safety and fit with the Lego brand. Every potential Lego product goes through a process like this and must meet the same standards."

The 5 Turbo 3E will be included in Lego's second review for 2026, which will include proposals that breach the 10,000-supporter milestone by 7 September.

It said reviews "can take several months" and that, following approval, the development phase "also takes several months". That means that, should it be approved, Collins' set could be on sale late next year.

In this interview, he tells us about the painstaking process of recreating the 5 Turbo 3E in miniature.

The yellow brick road: Building a Lego Renault 5

"It's my wife's fault," says Dave Collins. "I put the model on my bookshelf along with my others. We engineers don't seek the limelight, but she insisted I photograph it and send the pictures to Renault."

That's how his 1:12-scale model of the £140,000, 550bhp Renault 5 Turbo 3E, conceived and built entirely by him from Lego, found its way into Steve Cropley's 8 April column in the Autocar magazine – an appearance that has since helped it attract 10,000 supporters on the Lego Ideas website, where people can promote their creations.

Collins' remarkably accurate model will be now put forward to Lego's review board for commercial consideration. It will have to pass through many hoops, but we have our fingers crossed that the board will be sufficiently confident in his car to add it to Lego's range of model sets. Then Dave Collins, 40-something, husband, father and civil engineer, will be officially recognised as a Lego Fan Designer and earn 1% commission on his model's net sales, plus 10 complimentary copies.

Not that he set out to do it for the money. "I just enjoy building with Lego," he says. "It's a mindful process, one of trial and error. Playing with Lego, you might call it!"

Collins' relationship with the plastic bricks began, naturally enough, in childhood. In time, he graduated to more challenging Technic sets, including Forklift Truck, Hook and Ladder Truck (a fire engine) and Snorkel Squad (a large flatbed with a fireman's ladder), which he still displays in his hobby room. Eventually, he left home for university to lay down the foundations of his present career in civil engineering. Then years later, in 2020, Covid struck...

"One of my friends who had older children was giving away all their Lego and, knowing of my past interest in it, offered the lot to me," says Collins. "All told, the pile of bricks and other parts weighed around 20kg. I've always liked cars; my passion is Group B rally cars of the 1980s. I thought that, to help me and my daughter get through the pandemic, it would be fun to use the Lego to design and build cars that I'd owned, and maybe a rally car too from the same era."

Which is how, over a period of months, Collins' Lego model of a Mk1 Toyota MR2, a Ford Escort XR3i (the version he once owned was a more modest 1.4 L) and a Renault 5 Turbo (a car he had never owned in any form) came into being. You can see the XR3i on his Instagram page, under his building name Devonbricks. He also created a superb model of an MG Metro 6R4 (he had owned a Metro 1.4 Si), which he submitted to Lego for board review early last year. It has so far attracted more than 2800 supporters. It's pictured below; you can see more of it on his Instagram page or the Lego Ideas website.

That all four cars were created by trial and error is remarkable but more remarkable still are their features and detail. Collins is a modest man, but he accepts that his models are a cut above even Lego's premium sets: "I've taken Lego to the next level, to something as close as the real thing as possible and which doesn't look like a typical Lego model."

Whether it's an approach that can be made commercially viable (the MR2 and XR3i are made from around 1200 parts and the 6R4 from 1700 parts) is another question, but then Collins insists that he has never considered the marketability of his models when creating them.

Of the four he built during and after lockdown, it was the 6R4 that he enjoyed most: "I like the flared-arch look, while it and '80s cars in general have an angular quality that is easier to build in Lego. It's a look shared by the new Renault 5. Retro-futuristic, Renault calls it."

It's a look that Collins was instantly attracted to: "Electric power is the future of motoring and the Turbo 3E is a mind-blowing example of what lovers of performance cars can expect. I love its aero and wide wheel arches. It's a beast and I just had to build it. It turned out to be a process that excited me from start to finish."

If, like most of us, the furthest you've got improvising with Lego is building a toppling tower block, you doubtless will be wondering how Collins transformed the rods, wheels, bricks and countless other old Lego parts given to him by his friend into the stunning 5 Turbo 3E that has captured the imagination of his supporters.

In fact, as with his other models, the process began with sheets of A3 paper. Onto them he traced images of the Renault from his large computer screen to give him templates of the car's sides and front and rear ends. He then laid the traced images on sheets of card, cut them out and arranged Lego parts on the cut pieces to achieve the vehicle's basic shape and outline and to judge the suitability of each piece. With the sides loosely prepared, he then built the chassis from Technic pieces, fitted the wheels and joined everything up.

More trial and error followed. "I have a frustrating eye for detail and perfection," says Collins. "Everything has to be spot on. Every day I'd see the Renault on my shelf and I'd have to keep tweaking it. The hardest part was the roof: I had to figure out how to give it good structural support so that the doors and the tailgate could open and close. Getting the tailgate to fit flush to the body was also a challenge. In the end, the roll-cage saved the day. The easiest part was the basic chassis, not least because, unlike my other builds, there was no exhaust system and silencer to make or engine to install."

The 5 Turbo 3E's interior was also difficult to model, with Collins' eye for detail creating all sorts of challenges: "I wanted the seats to be as authentic as possible, so each of them has side supports, bolsters and headrests. I reproduced the tartan print on the upholstery using AutoCAD software and printed the design on A4 paper. I painted the wheels with white fabric paint. I tried to make it look like a radio-controlled car but as realistic as possible."

To do so required 1300 Lego pieces. Many he was able to source from his friend's old collection while others, especially those in the right colours, came from eBay and BrickLink, an independent marketplace for Lego parts. "These extra pieces cost me around £50," says Collins, "but if I'd had to buy all the parts for the car, the total build would have cost around £200."

The project took three months and around 100 hours to complete, concluding this February. Job done, the 5 Turbo 3E was destined for Collins' shelves while he considered his next project. But, as we know, his wife had other ideas, with the result that the little car (it measures 320mm in length) has placed its shy and retiring creator in the spotlight.

"The attention the car has attracted from Renault and Autocar and, of course, from the Lego supporters, to whom I'm extremely grateful, has been a shock but an enjoyable one," he says. "One minute I was sitting in my office and the next I was on a train with the car beside me in a cardboard box going to London to be photographed by Renault. Arnaud Belloni, Renault's brand chief, even popped into a video call to tell me he thought my car was brilliant. Renault are keeping the car for a short time for media purposes. I hope no one drops it. So it can't be rolled along the floor, I've locked the wheels."

During his time with Renault in London, the best moment for Collins was when his model was placed next to the real thing: "At first, it was nerve-racking to see it. Would it look like it and would the proportions be correct? Fortunately, it did and they were. To say I was pleased is an understatement."

To follow Collins' 5 Turbo 3E in its bid to be adopted by Lego as an official product, visit ideas.lego.com.

Supermini vs SUV: Is my Seat Ibiza better than its Arona sibling?

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0100

These two cars are basically identical under the skin - but which should you choose?

We compare the Spanish brand's desirable supermini to its crossover sibling

The two cars pictured above are remarkably similar - and not just because they're both freshly facelifted and painted Oniric Grey.

The Seat Ibiza and Arona are very closely related, to the extent that the latter is just a slightly bigger version of the former - so I grabbed the opportunity to remind myself of how different the crossover feels to the supermini which I've been living with.

'Slightly' here officially means 94mm lengthways, all but 2mm of that coming from the front and rear overhangs; 88mm vertically; and not even an atom widthways. Probably of greater relevance is that the Arona provides an extra 110mm of possible leg room for the driver and an extra 60mm of possible head room, thanks to that taller body, while leg room in the rear is a notable 86% more generous.

Standard stuff for a supermini and a supermini-based crossover, but what once again strikes me about the Arona is that it actually isn't typically crossovery. The illusion of extra safety created by a higher seating position is one of the main draws of a crossover, yet the hip point here is barely 40mm above that of the Ibiza, so you still feel 'in' the car, rather than 'on' it.

Some crossovers also justify their higher prices with snazzier-looking interiors, but that isn't true in this case either. In fact, these siblings are virtually indistinguishable from the dashboard perspective. Same basic architecture, materials, dash screens, even identical seats.

The Arona also retains the pleasantly light, fleet-footed dynamic character of the Ibiza, with a total absence of the stodgier feel and lazier dynamics that often afflict a crossover's taller body. We considered this the standout chassis in its class on arrival in 2017, and even all these years later it remains uncommonly well suited to British roads in terms of both handling panache and ride comfort. Of course, something very similar is true of the Ibiza.

There is one big difference, however, and it might swing your favour towards the Arona. At first, these cars mirrored one another in their trim levels, petrol engines and gearboxes: normal or sporty, 1.0-litre or 1.5-litre, manual or automatic. But the four-cylinder version of the Ibiza was discontinued very early on, meaning the Arona has long held a slight power advantage.

Then again, the 113bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder version of the Ibiza (which I'm running in automatic form) doesn't feel like it's missing the extra 35bhp of the 1.5-litre four-cylinder-probably because it's 35kg lighter. Its 0-62mph time is only 1.3sec slower, and I doubt you would ever notice that in daily use.

I've still never warmed to crossovers, and I still would never suggest anyone buys a crossover instead of a hatchback, because there are usually uncompensated compromises. Unless, of course, they're tall or less flexible than they might be and if you are someone who needs a tall but small car, then I can recommend none better than the Arona, simply because it's so similar to the wonderful Ibiza.

Polestar 5 driven: British-bred EV is an epic everyday super-saloon

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Far more than a Taycan rival - this Scandi spaceship has bags of character and desirability

In these homogenised times not many cars have the ability to stop you in your tracks, but leave it to Polestar – unabashedly design-led – to deliver one of the few.

Happening upon a finished Polestar 5 for the first time, the car basking in soft morning light outside a hotel on the outskirts of Marrakesh, is enough to momentarily halt the chitter-chatter. The car's snout, so low and wickedly tapered, has you wondering how it passed pedestrian impact regulations, quite apart from leaving room for the suspension top mounts. It has a menace that arouses some deep, primordial uneasiness, but the effect is spectacular and pure Polestar. An endless wheelbase then separates alloys snug in their arches before the spearish silhouette ends in a Kamm tail that has a whiff of the sci-fi Volkswagen XL1 – an effect enhanced if you opt for the Magnesium matt paint.

The 5 is a striking car – as it would be, having faithfully taken the lead of the show-stopping Precept concept of 2020. But pulling on the aesthetic thread unravels an even more interesting story. How is it that the proportions – beneath which lurks an output of 737bhp, rising to a ludicrous 871bhp in the top-ranking version – are so harmonious, and so unlike anything else in Polestar’s stable?

In the era of cost constraints and engineering rationalisation, the surprising answer is that the 5 has its own platform – one made with bonded sections of extruded aluminium in the Lotus spirit. It’s a curiously artisanal turn for a mainstream manufacturer, especially given that the Polestar Performance Architecture has limited potential to spawn other creations beyond the upcoming 6 roadster. Candidly, the 5 and its ultra-stiff underpinnings are unlikely to generate much profit. Yet it was important for its maker that this car be precisely as imagined, because it will serve as Polestar’s flagship. It’s the manifestation of the brand’s deepest values: electric performance in an elegant, reductive GT package.

It gets more interesting when you learn that, while production will be split between Polestar parent company Geely’s Chongqing and Wuhan plants in China, the development was undertaken largely at Horiba MIRA near Nuneaton by a 500-strong team of mostly British engineers.

The harsh reality is that many of those engineers, plenty of whom have decorated careers with stints at Lotus and McLaren, are now out of a job. Polestar quickly disbanded the facility at the end of the 5’s five-year development cycle. There’s no plan for another such project – not when Polestar already has Geely’s CMA, SPA2 and SEA platforms to use (as it has done for the 2, 3 and 4 respectively). The company is if anything spoiled for choice, which makes its decision to construct the 5 on a bespoke sporting platform both highly laudable and a bit bewildering.

Prices start at £89,500 for the 737bhp Dual Motor model, for which you get an 800V electrical architecture, four-wheel drive, a 0-62mph time of 3.8sec and 421 miles of WLTP-rated range. Above that sits the Performance with 871bhp, a 0-62mph time of 3.1sec and 346 miles of range. Both cars use a slim, 112kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, an in-house-developed rear motor capable of 600bhp or so and another motor from ZF on the front axle. An RWD variant is potentially in the works, though its purpose would be to lower the entry cost to the range, rather than to be a driver-centric special.

Neither model features rear-wheel steering, active anti-roll bars or air springs – common currency in modern super-saloon circles. In fact, the Dual Motor version uses passive dampers; you need to spend £15,000 or so more on the Performance to have three-mode magnetorheological technology. With perfect weight distribution, a low centre of gravity and the geometries for the double-wishbone suspension devised for the 5 and the 5 alone, Polestar says hefty additional technologies were surplus to requirements.

Whether a car some 5.1 metres in length, weighing in at exactly 2500kg and with a truly alarming turn of pace might have benefited from some of those chassis toys is something we will get to – but before that, the cabin.

Courtesy of the 5 having a wheelbase only 5% shorter than that of a BMW 7 Series, this is a vast, limousine-like space with rear leg room notably better than what you will find in a Porsche Taycan. Neither the hulking depth of the shell backs for the impressive front seats nor the controversial lack of a rear window can diminish the sense of space – or light, which floods in through the full-length glass roof. The beltline and scuttle are also well drawn, the 5 ensconcing its occupants in traditional GT style without feeling intimidating from behind the neat steering wheel, which can be positioned just so for most drivers.

Only when you come to adjust the position of the contoured, old-school helm do habitual Polestar issues temper the positive vibes. You have to make this adjustment using a combination of the pin-sharp central touchscreen and unlabelled haptic controls on the steering wheel spokes. It’s the same for the mirrors, and numerous other major controls are accessed solely via the screen. Polestar executives are by now visibly weary of explaining that they’re aware the situation isn’t ideal and the next generation of cars will be better. But for now, the lack of quick access to major controls blights the 5’s otherwise lavishly wrought and ergonomically sound cockpit – notwithstanding the puzzling absence of a glovebox.

Competence in the GT class also means the ability to carry luggage, and the 5 is strong enough in this respect. The boot floor is high but space is good if not overly generous at 365 litres (Taycan 407 litres, BMW M5 446 litres). The sculpted rear seatbacks also fold forward almost flat, unlocking capacity fit for a tip run (as if you'd endanger the soft Bridge of Weir leather). There’s another cavity in the frunk, albeit a shallow one best reserved for dirty charging cables. Charging, by the way, is at up to 350kW, meaning 10-80% in 22 minutes, although only 11kW is possible from an AC supply.

The reason we’re in Morocco is that, to show off the 5’s capability, Polestar marketers wanted to drive a car from Gothenburg to the edge of the Sahara. Autocar was invited along for the final leg from Marrakesh to Ouarzazate, and it’s a fortuitous allocation, because the roads out here are varied and present similar challenges to those back home. We spent most of our time in the Dual Motor – so how good is it?

Any luxury four-seater with a power output close to that of an Aventador SVJ is going to make headlines with its performance and, yes, the speed is monumental. Not that you’re under pressure to deploy it. Tip-in response is neat but unhurried in the default map. It can be sharpened up a touch if you like, but the 5 has an ever-easy manner and plenty of travel in the accelerator pedal. It won’t snap your neck unawares.

If you do floor it, as you will at least once, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 EV tyres on the Dual Motor bear the brunt of the car’s torque – a 599lb ft thunderstrike – well. However, there is an ever-present and unsurprising feeling that the chassis electronics are the arbiter of what really reaches the wheels in those incipient moments of thrust. It’s not usually a problem, but the tuning is on occasion a bit of a blunt instrument, joylessly pegging you back. As usual with Polestar, you can’t fully deactivate the stability or traction control systems.

There are then three modes for the regenerative braking – a good spread that includes coasting. Alas, you cycle through these not with paddles but via shortcuts on the touchscreen – next to other too-small icons that deactivate the lane keeping assist and speed limit bong. Pedal feel for the four-piston Brembos is unproblematic, neither swelling nor sapping confidence but simply allowing you to shed speed quickly and consistently.

So the 5 is rapid rapid but far from roguish. Of more interest is the interplay between its excellent steering, unusually long wheelbase and passive damping control. Together these elements result in enjoyably transparent handling of real breadth and class. The 5 changes direction keenly and establishes mid-corner balance quickly. The body is kept in close control while avoiding undue sportiness and always retaining rough-road suppleness.

The steering is then at its best in its lightest of the three maps, when it’s linear and lightly elasticated but with a firm, reassuring core in the motion. It’s less rich in feedback than the helm of a Taycan but more carefree and inviting of fingertip control and, without wanting to over-egg the 2.5-tonne pudding, just a little bit Lotus. Very few cars of this size and heft can find such an undemanding and pedigree-feeling flow.

The Performance variant, on the three-mode Magneride dampers, is just a little less cohesive, although this could partly be due to our car’s optional 22in forged wheels. An ample 21in is standard and we wouldn’t advise against opting for the 20in design.

The huge wheelbase that provides so much directional stability, and lays the ground for an unflustered ride on almost any surface you might throw the car over, also prevents the 5 from being truly entertaining if ever the desire takes hold. This chassis doesn’t invite you to have the back axle teetering on the brink of rotation on a trailing brake, as any flavour of Taycan will. And without rear-wheel steering, the 5 does require babying around tighter corners (this is relative, note: the 5 will feel devastatingly agile compared with any V8 super-saloon of just one or two generations ago).

On fast corner exits, the lack of a limited-slip differential as well as Polestar’s stability-minded set-up, which enlists the front axle early and generously, inhibits genuine poise and fun. But these are niche traits desired only by mad enthusiasts, who should still consider a Taycan first.

For everyone else (95% of people in the market), the 5 deserves its moment in the limelight. Here is a daily-usable performance saloon with supercar pace and a lovely, spacious cabin, built on a bespoke aluminium platform, with looks to stop traffic, for less than six figures. Be assured that its frustrations will irk at this price; Polestar knows it needs to course correct on some of its control interfaces. But in a world where it would have been all too easy to leave the 5 as a rakish concept in the Gothenburg archives, we should celebrate the fact that Polestar actually made it, and made it well.

Polestar 5 Dual Motor Launch Edition

Price £89,500 Engine Two permanent magnet synchronous motors Power 737bhp Torque 599lb ft Gearbox 1-spd reduction gear, 4WD Kerb weight 2500kg 0-62mph 3.8sec Top speed 155mph Battery 112kWh (total) Range, economy 421 miles, 3.5mpkWh CO2, tax band 0g/km, 4% Rivals Lotus Eletre 600, Porsche Taycan 4S

A2, Defender, Super 3: Prior's bought a Morgan to create dream fleet

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

After talking about Caterham Sevens for so long, I've gone down a different route...

Local legend has it that Henry 'Harry' Frederick Stanley Morgan - just known as HFS these days - built his first motor vehicle because he was tired from cycling over the Malvern Hills.

The facts are, I think, a little less romantic. The eventual founder of Morgan Motor Company had plenty of access to cars from the earliest years of the 20th century, when he ran a garage and hire car business in Malvern Link, but it is true that in 1908 he bought a twin-cylinder engine, constructed a single-seat three-wheeler around it and only later decided to put it into production.

It took a while to gain much traction. The production vehicle made an appearance at the 1910 Motor Cycle Show at London's Olympia. The initial single-seat design was so unpopular that Morgan quickly gave it two seats. Still, in 1912 we reported that it remained "a little known runabout known as the Morgan", which in its early days "had made no great stir".

That was until HFS took it on speed trials, in which it "performed so remarkably well in competitions during [the first] year that it was no surprise to find it perhaps the greatest centre of attraction" at a later show.

Cheaper to buy and tax than many four-wheeled cars and with competition success in its sails, it was in such demand during the following years that Morgan could barely keep up.

Eventually four-wheeled rivals became sufficiently cheap as to give it a harder time. Morgan persisted making only three-wheelers until 1936, when it introduced the four-wheeled 4/4. Three-wheelers remained on sale alongside four-wheeled cars until 1952, at which point Morgan decided to concentrate on the latter.

That was until 2011, when it reintroduced a trike, the 3 Wheeler, with an S&S-built V-twin making 80bhp and a weight as tested by us of 580kg, full of fuel. I fell for it hard enough to give it five stars in our road test, which you could perceive as entirely appropriate or completely absurd, depending on your outlook. But the remit of the road test is to assess how fit for purpose a vehicle is, and given the 3 Wheeler's remit was to put a smile on its driver's face, which it did not only for everyone who drove it but also for just about every bystander, what more could you have asked for?

Towards the end of the last decade Morgan was planning to give it a makeover, but in the same way that it recently got carried away with facelifting the Plus Six and instead turned it into the Supersport, its designers and engineers let their imaginations run wild, resulting in the 3 Wheeler's replacement by the Super 3. Morgan's first clean-sheet design since the Aero 8 of 2000, it arrived in 2022 with a superformed aluminium monocoque, "unashamedly functional" detailing and design inspired by the jet age. I liked it even more than I liked the 3 Wheeler.

I don't think it has sold quite as well as Morgan hoped it would, and it's impossible to know what effect, if any, Andrew Flintoff's painful crash in one on Top Gear had on its popularity. But to my mind it has remained a really endearing car to drive and a beautiful piece of product design - a shape you could put in an art gallery.

Instead, I've put one on my driveway. The Super 3 you see pictured here, which has done the rounds as a demonstrator and was the car pictured in our road test (9 November 2022), is now mine. And I still can't quite believe it. I've just been over to the window to look outside and make sure it's real, and there it is, sitting alongside my Audi A2 and old-shape Land Rover Defender in an utterly dreamy three-car line-up.

Registered in 2021 and with 25,000 miles on it, it's one of the earliest and must be among the leggiest Super 3s, but you wouldn't know it to drive it. And two days into ownership, I'm starting to think that perhaps this is a car I will keep forever, letting the adventures roll beneath its wheels, and the memories build like the patina it will eventually take on too.

There will be more on these pages about it for years, I imagine. For now, I'm smitten.

How is a range-extender different to a plug in hybrid? And which is better?

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0100

Leapmotor's C10 Hybrid EV is the only REx on sale in the UK - but more are coming

Both PHEV and REx drivetrains combine combustion engines and electric motors, but there are crucial differences

A range-extender (known as a REx or REEV) is pleasingly simple: it's an electric vehicle with a smaller battery that can be topped up by a petrol engine when the state of charge drops.

Traditionally, a REx is a type of series hybrid, which means the electric motor turns the road wheels and the engine works as a generator, charging the battery.

Modern REx engines are small, light and tuned for high efficiency, and they run at a constant speed when the battery needs charging.

A REx has something in common with a PHEV in that both can be plugged in to charge the battery and run in pure-electric mode.

The main difference is that with a PHEV, both the engine and the motor are used to turn the wheels.

Both PHEVs and traditional full hybrids like the Toyota Prius are described as 'parallel hybrids', because the engine and motor can drive the wheels in parallel, ie at the same time.

Like other hybrids, a REx has the disadvantage of being more complex than pure EVs in the sense that they incorporate a mixture of both combustion and electric drivetrains.

Another potential downside is that a REx could go for longer periods with the engine lying dormant – but most are generally started periodically by the car’s electronic systems for a ‘maintenance cycle’.

RExs are ideal in parts of the world where the EV public charging infrastructure is sparse, and they are popular with Chinese manufacturers, which is a powerful incentive to make the technology easily accessible.

A REx's high-voltage battery is a lot smaller and cheaper than that of a pure EV, too, making a turnkey REx drivetrain a cost-effective solution.

Suppliers including Horse Powertrain are now beginning to offer modular REx units, complete with integrated power inverters, which any manufacturer can buy and incorporate into its vehicle range.

Horse, a collaboration between Renault and Geely, is producing a number of REx solutions, including its small, ‘suitcase-sized' C15 unit, which can be installed at the front or rear of an EV platform.

ZF is also starting volume production of modular REx units this year. One example is the eRE+, which operates as a generator but can also be connected to the car's wheels by means of a clutch to give four-wheel drive.

Two engines, one solution? European car makers divided on PHEV and REx tech

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0100

Some manufacturers are going electric-only while others hedge their bets – but decision deadline looms

Car makers in Europe are divided on whether upcoming replacements for big-selling family cars should come with the option of a plug-in hybrid drivetrain or not.

The arguments are compelling on both sides. Offering a car with both an electric motor and a combustion engine hedges your bets and keeps hold of customers sceptical of going electric. On the other hand, going all-electric avoids the expensive duplication of drivetrains, one of which might not even be allowed after 2035.

Range-extender vs plug-in hybrid: How is REx different to PHEV?

“We are committed to an electric future, but we need to move the laggards on the adoption curve too,” Jim Baumbick, head of Ford of Europe, told Autocar.

Ford will launch a new European-focused Bronco compact SUV with a PHEV drivetrain in 2028, with two other ‘multi-energy’ crossovers arriving in 2029.

Having committed itself to the cause, Ford has now become a key advocate, and that means campaigning for regulators in both the EU and the UK to allow PHEVs and their close relatives, range-extender (REx) cars, to be sold after the 2035 cut-off for new ICE car sales.

“It's essential. We need regulatory reform, and we need it even more in the UK,” Baumbick said.

The Volkswagen Group, however, is wavering on whether to offer a REx version of its new all-encompassing SSP platform for EVs, arriving at the end of the decade.

“We're looking at it. We kept our options open to install a range-extender on the platform. At the moment it looks less likely,” Klaus Zellmer, CEO of Volkswagen Group brand Skoda, said in response to a question as whether the SSP-based Octavia replacement would be hybridised. “We're trying to understand range-extender buying motives and user experience."

As far as the customer is concerned, there’s little difference between a PHEV and a REx. You charge up the battery at home (or, less likely, at a public charger) and when that charge is gone a combustion engine keeps you moving.

For the manufacturer, REx cars are more radical in that the platform is engineered first for an EV, rather than an adapted ICE car platform. The battery is usually bigger, the motor is more powerful and the engine is there to charge the battery and act as an electric generator, instead of driving the wheels, which does away with the need for a traditional gearbox et al.

Long journeys are made easier but day-to-day faff is higher, said Zellmer: “Speak to drivers of range-extended cars and something they all hate is that, to exploit the full potential of the car, you always have to charge and fully fill up your tank."

Meanwhile EVs are getting better and better, with longer ranges and faster changing.

“The premiums are starting to pivot away now and focus more on BEVs,” automotive industry analyst Matthias Schmidt told Autocar. “800V BEVs capable of charging from 10-80% in 15 minutes are closing the case on the humble PHEV. The transition is slowly coming to an end.”

Premium brands have dominated the UK's PHEV market, but that is changing, with their share falling to 39% in the first four months of 2026, from 46% in the same period last year.

Long-range EVs such as the new BMW iX3, Volvo EX60 and Mercedes-Benz GLC ELectric are removing the need for the back-up of a combustion engine.

Things are different for luxury brands like Bentley and Lamborghini: PHEV drivetrains allow them to keep emotional V8 engines without a crippling CO2 emissions penalty. PHEVs accounted for 93% of all Lamborghini production last year.

The European premium brands are carefully monitoring China, where REx SUVs from local premium brands like Li Auto are eating their market share.

So far, however, apart from Geely-owned Lotus, they haven't committed to developing long-range PHEV or REx cars of their own - but that could change.

Instead it’s the volume brands in Europe that are more interested in REx technology, partly because their need to use cheaper LFP battery chemistry limits the range of their EVs.

Renault, for example, has decided that its new EV platform, underpinning the next Scenic and Rafale SUV starting in 2028, will offer a REx option.

“I'm not saying this is the ideal answer, but for the most anxious customers this is what we propose,” Renault R&D head Philippe Brunet said.

Range-extenders emerged from China, where many car makers started with electric powertrains and worked back to combustion.

So far only the Leapmotor C10 Hybrid EV has made its way over to the UK but, presented with an equivalent electric option at the same price (around £36,000), Leapmotor customers are choosing the EV. It’s early days still, but of the 320 C10s sold here in April, only 27 were RExs.

Part of the reason is tax. The electrified market is still dominated by fleet sales, and within that various nudges still push people towards EVs – especially the so-called ‘easement’ on PHEVs ending in 2028, resulting in much higher benefit-in-kind tax for PHEVs and RExs, depending on the model.

This is complicated stuff, but essentially the time when PHEVs were taxed pretty much as EVs is coming to an end.

Various green groups have pointed out, with compelling evidence, that PHEVs are nowhere near as fuel-efficient as claimed. The EU agreed and rerated their emissions – something that the UK delayed (the 'easement'), likely to protect JLR, but only until 2028.

The problem for car makers is that no drivetrain in history has been buffeted by legislation quite like the PHEV. A small tax tweak can result in the collapse of an entire market: witness the Netherlands in 2017 and France in 2025.

What is hard to ignore, however, is the fact that customer enthusiasm for PHEVs is higher than ever. PHEV sales in the UK climbed a massive 46% in the first fourth months this year to just under 100,000 cars, taking a 13% market share, close behind full hybrids.

There’s one big reason for this: the rise of the Chinese. Led by Chery, MG, BYD and Geely, they accounted for 44% of the PHEV market in the UK in the first four months of 2026, up from 14% the same period the year before.

Their ability to package large, cheap LFP batteries in practical low-cost SUVs has transformed the market.

“Some of the more aggressive Chinese competitors have come in with plug-in hybrids, but they've almost marketed them as hybrids,” David Allison, product manager for MG Motor UK, told Autocar.

In the EU, Chinese players are helped by the fact that the additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs don’t apply to PHEVs. This is bringing retail customers into the market, giving them a taste of EV life without the range anxiety.

But the fact remains that it’s difficult to know whether anyone is plugging those PHEVs in. Those who do know are manufacturers, which can see user data.

According to Ford, the frequency of plugging in has shot up since the start of the Iran war, as PHEV owners exploit the rising gap in cost between petrol and electricity.

As for persuading customers to carry on plugging when petrol prices settle back down, Ford points to Sweden, where the utilisation rate (charging two to three times per week) on Ford PHEVs is 70%, compared with just 10-20% in the UK. The reason is taxation: Swedes get a tax benefit the more they charge their PHEVs.

Invested car makers and their suppliers, including ICE powertrain specialist company Horse, are campaigning the EU to save the PHEV.

They may yet succeed, especially given the amount of business having two drivetrains instead of one creates for European suppliers.

For other car makers, however, PHEVs look a dangerous long-term bet, knocked about as they are by unpredictable forces ranging from local tax changes, Chinese competition, the rise in EV capability and a fast-approaching obsolescence deadline.

Used Lamborghini Urus 2018-2024 review

Sun, 31 May 2026 17:00:00 +0100

Lamborghini’s big SUV gamble undergoes the toughest test in the business. Massively capable wherever it goes, while being extremely conspicuous and costly while it does it Many years from now, when historians are chronicling Lamborghini’s rise and fall, they may very well split the company’s annals with a dividing line labelled ‘Urus’.Up until the introduction of the firm’s third showroom model, the controversial new Super Sport Utility Vehicle that this week’s road test is focused on, Ferruccio Lamborghini’s eponymous company had built mainly mid-engined supercars – and in numbers that only began to exceed 2000 units a year earlier this decade. The dark days of 1980s Mimran brothers ownership and of receivership, and the Volkswagen Group’s 1990s resurrection of the company, didn’t seem that long ago.After the Urus, however, Lamborghini has become a different company entirely. The site of the firm’s Bolognese headquarters has doubled in size, and it expects to produce more than 8000 cars in 2019 – enough to comfortably outstrip upstart McLaren’s success, and to finally put it on a level footing with eternal rival Ferrari in global volume terms.But what might Ferruccio himself have made of the decision to turn to a car like the Urus to finally realise his ambition of getting even with Enzo? Well, by getting into the usual exhaustive detail, we should shortly be in position to make a good educated guess.The current management certainly seems to approve – much as that should hardly come as a surprise. Chairman and CEO Stefano Domenicali claims it is “a true Lamborghini in terms of design, performance, driving dynamics and emotion… and a perfect fit within the Lamborghini family”.Time to find out if – and if so, exactly how – a 2.2-tonne SUV built on a shared platform can hope to deliver in those rarefied terms.Price £167,000 Power 641bhp Torque 627lb ft 0-60mph 3.3sec 30-70mph in fourth 5.1sec Fuel economy 19.0mpg CO2 emissions 335g/km 70-0mph 43.3mThe Urus range at a glanceLamborghini’s SUV line-up currently comprises of one stand-alone model. As such, there is no need to choose engines or trim levels for your Urus: it’s a 4.0-litre V8 with 641bhp or nowt. That said, the options list is a fairly extensive one: wheel sizes range from 21in to gigantic 23in affairs; there’s a range of gaudy interior upholstery colours to choose from; and there’s plenty of optional carbonfibre panelling. More sensible options include a handsfree tailgate and additional active safety systems.

The brilliant car designs of Giorgetto Giugiaro

Sun, 31 May 2026 08:08:08 +0100

Giorgetto Giugiaro has designed more big-selling cars than anybody else – and lots of niche models too. These are just some of the highlights

He's been called the most influential car designer of all time

Giorgetto Giugiaro entered his work into a student exhibition in 1955, where it was spotted by Fiat's technical director Dante Giacosa; the rest as they say is history. Let's see all the amazing designs he's come up with over the past few decades; some are stand-out rare, and some are common; and you might even drive one of his cars yourself:

Slideshow story - click right-hand arrow above to continue

Gordon-Keeble GT (1960)

This is where it all started; with a British car that’s pretty much unknown thanks to just 100 examples having been built between 1964 and 1967.

Powered by a 5.4-litre Corvette V8, the Gordon Keeble featured a glassfibre bodyshell on a steel chassis. Virtually all of the cars built survive, thanks to an enthusiastic owners’ club.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone (1960)

Six years after Ferrari first opened its doors for business it launched the 250, so named because each of the 3.0-litre V12's cylinders displaced 250c.

There was a huge array of variations on the 250 theme but one of the most sought after is the 250GT SWB, so called because its wheelbase was shortened by 200mm to improve agility and cut weight. Created primarily as a racer, some road-going cars were also built.

BMW 3200 CS (1961)

The first BMW to feature the brand's famous Hofmeister Kink, named after the company's then head of design Wilhelm Hofmeister, it was actually Giugiaro who adopted the design feature on behalf of BMW, while he was working for Bertone.

He wasn't the first to use it though as Lancia had used it several years before.

Iso Rivolta IR 300 (1961)

It's hardly what you could call a looker but the intriguing Rivolta was one of the most capable GTs of the 1960s. Powered by a 5340cc Corvette V8, just like the Gordon Keeble, the Rivolta was designed by Giugiaro when he was working for the Bertone design studio - with which he would later be in competition.

Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone 'Jet' (1961)

You'd be hard-pressed to argue that the Aston Martin DB4 GT was in need of visual improvement but Bertone gave it a go, with Giugiaro getting the gig.

Incredibly, despite being a one-off the Jet was bodied in steel so it weighs more than the donor car - which wasn't ideal considering it was created for the race track.

ASA 1000 GT (1962)

Enzo Ferrari toyed with the idea of creating a small sports car in the early 1960s and the ASA 1000 GT was the result.

Powered by a 1.0-litre four-cylinder engine that was effectively a third of a 3.0-litre Ferrari V12, the ASA's chassis also borrowed design elements from the 250 GTO. But Ferrari decided to stick with his full-fat supercars and instead the project was made independently.

Simca 1000 Coupé (1962)

Giugiaro was still wearing his Bertone hat when he came up with this pretty little coupé that came initially with a 944cc engine but was upgraded to a 1204cc unit in 1967.

While the early cars topped out at just 87mph, the later ones could get all the way to 105mph.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT (1963)

In 1962 Alfa Romeo launched its rather boxy 105-Series Giulia saloon and it was Giugiaro's job to sex things up a bit with a two-door edition.

That arrived in 1963 in the form of the Giulia Sprint GT with a 1570cc all-alloy twin-cam engine. Later would come 1.3-, 1.8- and 2.0-litre engines, the latter two in the Sprint GTV, also penned by Giugiaro.

Mazda Familia (1963)

You can't accuse Giugiaro of slacking when he was at Bertone - they certainly got their money's worth.

Having launched with its first (kei) car in 1960, Mazda moved upmarket three years later with this small family saloon and estate with four-cylinder engines between 782cc and 987cc.

Iso Grifo (1963)

There's been no shortage of European supercars and grand tourers over the years, built with the help of American motive power - and the Iso Grifo is one of the most enigmatic of the lot.

Powered by Chevrolet or Ford V8s, early Grifos got a 5.4-litre unit but from 1970 a mighty 7.5-litre unit was fitted, rated at 395bhp.

Alfa Romeo Canguro (1964)

When Alfa Romeo wanted to build a low-volume TZ-based sports car in the 1960s it gave both Pininfarina and Bertone a TZ chassis and told them to come up with something; the Canguro was Bertone's creation, penned by Giugiaro.

Powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine the car looked gorgeous but Alfa got cold feet and never put either proposal into production.

Innocenti 186 GT (1964)

This stillborn sports car was the result of a collaboration between Innocenti and Ferrari. The plan was to build a compact 2+2 coupé with a 1.8-litre V6 mounted in the nose and driving the rear wheels.

The car was developed and pretty much ready for production when everything went belly up, leaving just two cars made - one of which survives.

Fiat 850 Spider (1965)

The Fiat 850 was one of the most popular small family cars in Italy during the second half of the 1960s, but most were saloons.

Some were coupés while others were seven-seat people carriers (yes, really!) - and there was this, a neatly designed convertible officially designed by Bertone but actually styled by Giugiaro.

Mazda Luce (1966)

Throughout the 1960s Mazda continued its quest to move upmarket, with the Luce arriving in 1966. Initially available only with a 1.5-litre engine, by the end of 1968 there was also a 1.8-litre option.

Within a year there would also be a rotary-powered Luce - the only Wankel-powered Mazda to feature front-wheel drive.

De Tomaso Mangusta (1966)

Designed by Giugiaro when he was working for the Italian styling house Ghia (later bought by Ford), the Mangusta was the predecessor to the far more high-profile Pantera.

As with that later car the Mangusta featured a Ford V8 which provided a top speed of somewhere around 160mph.

Maserati Ghibli (1966)

Maserati has produced three different Ghiblis over the past half-century or so but this one is the original and by far the most beautiful.

Named after a hot, dry wind in the Libyan desert, the Ghibli was another car designed by Giugiaro when he was working for Ghia. In the nose was a 4.7-litre V8, later increased to 4.9 litres.

Fiat Dino Coupé (1967)

Whereas Pininfarina was responsible for designing the Fiat Dino Spider, the Dino coupé was penned by Bertone - and specifically Giugiaro when he was an employee.

Powered by the same 2.0-litre (later 2.4-litre) V6 as the Ferrari Dino, the identically named Fiat has become hugely collectible in recent years.

Isuzu 117 Coupé (1968)

Launched in the late 1960s, the Isuzu 117 survived right the way through to the early 1980s, albeit with a significant facelift in 1977.

Front-engined and rear-wheel drive, the 117 came with 1.6-, 1.8- or 2.0-litre petrol engines - or a 2.2-litre diesel.

BMW Spicup concept car (1969)

Blending the characteristics of a spider and coupé (hence SpiCup), this BMW 2500-based concept was first seen on the Bertone stand at the 1969 Geneva motor show.

Sold off then used as a daily driver, the Spicup languished in a barn for two decades before it was completely restored in 2011 and sold for €460,000.

Lotus Esprit (1972)

One of the all-time landmark car designs, the original Esprit was made famous as a Bond car on two occasions; an S1 featured in The spy who loved me while in For your eyes only there was an Essex Esprit Turbo.

Always powered by four-cylinder engines, it wasn't until 1996 that a V8 Esprit was available, almost a decade after the car had been redesigned by Peter Stevens.

Maserati Merak (1972)

A development of the V8-powered Maserati Bora that Giugiaro also designed, the Merak featured a mid-mounted V6 engine that displaced either 2.0 or 3.0 litres.

Competing with the Lamborghini Urraco and Ferrari 308GT4 (both of which arrived later), the Merak lasted right the way through until 1983, by which time almost 2000 examples had been made.

Hyundai Pony (1975)

First shown at the Turin motor show in October 1974, by 1975 the Hyundai Pony was being made in quantity - it was Korea's first mass-produced car.

It was also the first Korean car to be sold in the UK, although it wouldn't arrive here until 1982. Power came from 1.2-, 1.4- or 1.6-litre petrol engines.

Suzuki Cervo (1977)

The Suzuki Cervo, also sold as the SC100 or Whizzkid, was such a neat design that elements of it were borrowed for the new Ignis that launched in 2016.

Created to comply with Japan's kei car regulations, the Cervo came with engines ranging from 539cc to 970cc.

Zastava Yugo (1977)

Universally pilloried and poorly made, the Zastava Yugo wasn't a high spot in the history of the car but there's no denying that it provided affordable transport for hundreds of thousands of people around the globe.

Sold across Europe and the US, the Yugo carried an array of monikers including the Koral, Ciao, Tempo and GV; by the time the final car was made after more than two decades, almost 800,000 had been built in hatchback and convertible forms.

FSO Polonez (1978)

In production for the thick end of two decades, the FSO Polonez grew out of a Fiat safety car project from 1970, although production didn't start until 1978.

Poverty-spec models got a 1.3-litre petrol engine but power junkies could buy a 2.0-litre petrol engine, while there were also a couple of diesel engines offered.

Lancia Delta (1979)

It's easy to forget that the Integrale was actually sired by a more prosaic hatch that has now largely disappeared. Winner of the 1980 European Car of the Year, the Delta later became available as the Saab 600 in a joint venture between Lancia and Saab; few were made and they’re now even rarer than the Lancia-badged Delta.

Volkswagen Jetta (1979)

While the first-generation Golf sold like hot cakes, in most markets buyers weren't so keen on the Jetta thanks to its reduced practicality.

Effectively a booted Golf, the Jetta came with the same engine choices as its sibling which meant petrol engines from 1.1 to 1.8 litres and - unusually for the time - the option of a diesel engine as well.

Maserati Quattroporte III (1979)

The original Quattroporte was designed by Pietro Frua while Marcello Gandini penned the ultra-rare Quattroporte II. For the third iteration Giugiaro was asked to come up with something; this boxy saloon was the result.

Not one of his finest designs, all Quattroporte IIIs had a V8 engine; production lasted from 1979 until 1990.

Fiat Panda (1980)

Created in the same mould as the Citroen 2CV, the Fiat Panda was a no-frills economy car that was offered with the 652cc air-cooled two-cylinder engine taken from the Fiat 126.

More popular though was the 903cc water-cooled four-pot. These early Pandas have become very collectible, especially in 4x4 form - they're capable of tackling astonishingly tough terrain.

Fiat Uno (1983)

With almost nine million examples made over more than two decades, the Uno is one of the biggest-selling cars ever created. Launched by Fiat in 1983, the Uno was also made in North and South Africa, South America and Asia, with a huge array of different petrol and diesel engines fitted.

Lancia Thema (1984)

Now largely forgotten, the Lancia Thema was the original Type 4 car, alongside the Saab 9000, Alfa Romeo 164 and Fiat Croma.

Of the four cars in the project, only one wasn't designed by Giugiaro; the Alfa Romeo was penned by Pininfarina which also came up with a design for the Thema estate. Most Themas were nice enough if not especially interesting - until the 8.32 arrived with a 3.0-litre V8.

Saab 9000 (1984)

For Saab's most luxurious car yet, Giugiaro teamed up with the Swedish company's Bjorn Unvall to create a rather neat saloon and hatchback - but there wouldn't be an estate version.

Although the 9000 was supposed to share many of its parts with the other Type 4 cars, in reality virtually nothing was interchangeable thanks to Saab wanting its car to achieve much higher safety standards than its partners’.

Seat Ibiza (1984)

SEAT built its first car in 1953 but it wouldn't be until 1984 that it produced its own model; until now they were all Fiat cast offs.

The Ibiza marked the start of a new chapter for SEAT with its Porsche-fettled engine (on some models) and an ultra-modern five-door hatchback design.

Fiat Croma (1985)

Pretty much forgotten now, and laregly extinct, the Croma was Fiat's part in the Type 4 project.

Fiat's first large car to feature front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted engine, the Croma came with petrol or diesel power including - in the case of the former - V6 and turbocharged four-cylinder units giving up to 158bhp.

Renault 19 (1988)

Here's a blast from the past, and one that's now pretty much disappeared altogether. Taking over where the Renault 9 and 11 left off, the 19 came in hatchback or convertible forms while saloon fans could buy the Chamade.

The latter is now especially rare, with less than a couple of dozen still in use on UK roads; there are fewer than 300 Renault 19s of all types still in use.

Italdesign Aztec (1988)

One of the more left-field concepts, the Aztec went into limited production although just a handful were made. With no weather protection and separate cockpits for the driver and passenger, the Aztec was powered by a turbocharged five-cylinder Audi engine although bizarrely, the four-wheel drive transmission was taken from the Lancia Integrale.

Seat Toledo (1991)

As with so many family cars of the early 1990s, the Seat Toledo wasn't exactly a high point in car design, but it was inoffensive enough.

On sale throughout the 1990s, this original Toledo was based on the Golf Mk2 which meant a choice of 1.6-, 1.8- or 2.0-litre petrol engines or there was a 1.9 diesel.

Lexus GS (1993)

When Lexus came up with an executive car to take on the established premium brands, Giugiaro decided that a simplified design was the key, and that's exactly what he came up with.

Sold as the Toyota Aristo in its home market, the original Lexus GS came only with six- or eight-cylinder engines and four- or five-speed automatic transmissions.

Seat Córdoba (1993)

The Cordoba has never been a big success for Seat in the UK, but it's sold better in European countries where small saloons are more popular.

Sharing the same platform as the Polo and Ibiza, buyers could choose between coupé, saloon and estate variations on the theme.

Lamborghini Calà (1995)

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Lamborghini offered junior supercars with V8 power; the Urraco, Silhouette and Jalpa.

By the 1990s it was V12 power all the way, but it could have been different as the fully driveable V10-engined Cala was unveiled in 1995. But the funds weren’t there to develop the car and the project was shelved.

Volkswagen W12 (1997)

For a while VW seriously considered putting this W12-powered mid-engined supercar into production, but with the Veyron and various Lamborghinis to develop, plus the Audi R8, it didn't happen.

First came a 414bhp coupé followed by a roadster version of the same car. Then in 2001 came the most extreme W12 yet: a 591bhp Nardo edition which claimed an array of speed records, including covering 4809.8 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 200.6mph.

Daewoo Matiz (1997)

First seen as the Fiat Cinquecento-based Lucciola design study, the Daewoo Matiz may not have been exciting but it was a neatly styled city car created to provide minimalist transport.

Engines ranged from 0.8 to 1.2 litres with the car wearing a diverse array of badges including Chevrolet, Pontiac and FSO.

Seat León (1998)

Even now, 20 years after it was unveiled, the original Seat Leon still looks modern and appealing. Offered only as a five-door hatch, the Leon Mk1 used the same PQ34 platform as the Golf Mk4, A3 and TT Mk1 along with the new Beetle and first-generation Skoda Octavia.

Maserati 3200 GT (1998)

Most famous for its boomerang-shaped LED rear lights, the 3200 GT marked a welcome return of Giugiaro design to the Maserati brand.

After many years in the doldrums, Maserati desperately needed the 3200 GT to revive its fortunes, which it did reasonably well; almost 5000 were made in a four-year production run. Each was powered by a twin-turbo 3.2-litre V8.

Alessandro Volta (2004)

Only ever intended to be a concept, the Alessandro Volta was named after the Italian Physicist who invented the battery. The name alluded to the car's motive power; a petrol/electric hybrid powertrain borrowed from the Lexus RX400h which combined a 3.3-litre V6 with two electric motors.

With 402bhp on tap, the drive-by-wire carbonfibre-bodied concept could top 155mph and do 0-62mph in just four seconds.

Alfa Romeo 159 (2004)

Working in conjunction with Alfa Romeo’s Centro Stile design studio, Giugiaro came up with something of a masterpiece with the 159, a car that looked so much sharper than most of its contemporaries.

Buyers could choose between saloon and estate configurations and while top dog was a 3.2 V6 edition, sadly there was no 159 GTA.

Ferrari GG50 (2005)

There's a big clue in the name of this one; it was created to celebrate 50 years of Giorgetto Giugiaro designing cars. Based on a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and first shown at the 2005 Tokyo motor show, the GG50 featured a 540bhp 5748cc V12, a hatchback along with a 2+2 seating configuration.

Fiat Grande Punto (2005)

At a time when small cars were all looking like homogenous blobs, Fiat came up with this brilliantly styled supermini that looked like a miniaturised Maserati.

Still in production in India, the Grande Punto morphed into the Punto Evo in 2009 when it was given a facelift.

M1 Homage Concept (2008)

BMW unveiled the mid-engined gull-wing Turbo concept in 1972; six years later the M1 arrived, using much the same design but with a naturally aspirated engine - for road cars at least.

Thirty years after the M1 appeared, BMW came up with this tribute to its first mid-engined production car. It wasn’t a runner though.

Techrules Ren (2018)

Showing that he's still very much at the sharp end of car design, in 2018 Giugiaro's latest confection was unveiled, the Techrules Ren. This Chinese hypercar aims to be the world's first turbine-powered car.

When combined with a lithium-ion battery pack driving two, four or six electric motors there's anything up to 1287bhp available, along with 1725lb ft of torque - giving a 199mph top speed and 0-62mph time of 2.5 seconds.

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Used Mercedes-Benz C-Class 2014–2021 review

Sun, 31 May 2026 07:54:00 +0100

Can the C-Class, our perennial runner-up in the compact saloon category, finally reach the top spot? Typically, car manufacturer model codenames mean little to anyone but car manufacturers – but not always.German car aficionados aren’t alone, for example, in nodding sagely at the casual mention of a W124, a W140, an R107 or, super-keenly, a W198. Some Mercedes-Benzes, it seems, are so legendary that to refer to them by their proper names seems almost to do them an injustice.How Stuttgart would love it if the new W205 C-Class comes to earn that kind of reverence. Assuming that significance gives any clue to overall stature, it certainly should.Daimler-Benz started making recognisable compact executive saloons in the 1950s, with the four-cylinder W120 series. The seminal moment for the modern C-Class came, though, with the launch of the original C-Class’s immediate predecessor: the 1982 Mercedes 190 and 190E.This was the W201, and it was followed in 1993 by the W202, which first bore C-Class badging. Mercedes introduced a two-door coupé version alongside regular saloons and estates with the W203 in 2000.This is the first Merc, however, based on an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid rear-wheel drive platform that’ll be adopted for a whole phalanx of bigger sibling models. From body to chassis to powertrain to interior, it’s a sign of things to come from Mercedes.There’s plenty riding on it. At the car’s launch, Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche confirmed that, despite the army of smaller, cheaper front-drive models launched of late, the C-Class remains the company’s biggest-selling model. And the Stuttgart firm put its money where its mouth is by investing in creating not only an estate version but also W205 coupés and cabriolets, but there was more to come as Mercedes' AMG division has also launched hot and ballistic versions of the C-Class in the shape of the C 43 and C 63.The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, launched in 2013, suggested that Merc was rediscovering top form. So is the C-Class destined for greatness?

Anything goes: The budget rally where it's Micra vs Modus vs MX-5

Sun, 31 May 2026 07:00:00 +0100

It is one of the UK's fastest growing motorsports for amateurs - where low-cost of entry is the big attraction

Members of the public weren't admitted, but had they ventured onto RMB Chivenor, a Royal Marines base on the Devon coast, one Sunday last April, they would have witnessed around 50 well-worn cars spanning a 1972 Ford Escort to a 2007 BMW 123d being driven hard around its runways, access roads and grassy outfields.

All day, the motors - among them rarities such as a 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI and a 1990 Toyota Corolla GTI, plus oddballs including a 1997 Proton Satria and a 2003 Ford Fusion - tore one after the other around the camp, occasionally braking violently to a stop beside clusters of officials, who were timing them to the second. It was a rally, but not as we know it...

Welcome to Targa road rally, the fast-growing motorsport for amateurs where low-cost of entry is the big attraction. My first taste of the sport was a YouTube film of the 2023 Classic Tracks Targa Rally. It showed ordinary cars in road trim tearing around an old farm while groups of spectators yelled encouragement. Narrow your eyes and it could have been a 1970s round of the Lombard RAC, but with one key difference: none of the drivers and navigators was wearing a helmet.

The argument goes that things like helmets, fireproof overalls, fire extinguishers and roll-cages add cost and discourage participation in grassroots rallying. That said, it's worth noting there are two types of Targa rally: Silver Star and Gold Star, both run under the auspices of the BTRDA (British Trial and Rally Drivers Association), which supports club-level competition regulated by Motorsport UK. In its lower cost of entry, Silver Star is closest to the spirit of a Targa rally.

To enter a Targa rally, you must be a member of a car club and hold an RS Clubman licence, which is free from Motorsport UK. An Inter Club licence is also acceptable. In addition, the club hosting the event will impose an entry charge. At North Devon Motor Club's Targa rally, held at Chivenor in memory of Stu Wood, a much-missed member, teams paid a modest £180 - a fee that covered the hire of the venue, which was expertly marshalled.

Cars must be road-legal and only those with engines of no more than four cylinders and with a single cam, or a twin cam if it was standard, and two carburettor chokes or the standard fuel injection system are permitted to compete. Unless it's a diesel, turbocharged engines larger than 1500cc aren't allowed.

Noisy exhausts and gearbox shifts that aren't the traditional H-pattern are also not permitted. A roll-cage is allowed but not mandatory. To keep things simple, the car's headlining, carpets, rear seats (where fitted) and original door cards must be retained. Seatbelts can be of the conventional lap belt variety. There are no rules regarding the type of clothing crews must wear.

This light regulatory touch has a direct bearing on the cost of competing. While many cars at Chivenor were dressed to impress, with knobbly tyres, race seats, bonnet catches and roll-cages, they were in essence completely standard. An almost equal number looked exactly as they did when they left the factory.

That all can compete on equal terms is down to one thing: the average permitted speed is just 30mph.

For proof of what a leveller that is, look no further than Will Jefferis, who finished second driving an ordinary- looking 2002 Nissan Micra 1.4. "I like appearing to be the underdog," he said. "Driving in a Targa is about technique and not how fast you can go."

Not that the pace was ever less than full-on. There were 10 tests on the day, totalling 30 miles. Half were on Tarmac and the remainder on a mixture of Tarmac, grass and gravel. Regardless of the surface, the drivers drove like their lives depended on it. Father and son Sean and Connor Merrifield had turned up in a 2008 Renault Modus with a sat-nav unit crudely taped to the dashboard and piles of clutter still on the back seat. They finished 17th in the Clubman class, which is for holders of the RS Clubman licence. Other entrants included a couple contesting a 2003 Ford Fusion (they finished last).

Josh Martin and co-driver Dave Motterham were manning a 2000 Mazda MX-5. "Targa is similar to stage rallying in the 1970s," said Motterham. "It's cheap and accessible but it's taught us a lot about setting up a car." They finished eighth in the Inter Club class for holders of the Inter Club licence, which is £85 but opens the door to more championships.

By close of play, the overall winners across both classes were Jamie Raymond and Oliver Luxton in a 2000 Ford Puma. Zak Linham and Harry Blackmore won the Clubman class in a 2003 MG ZR. However, judging by the smiles of all the participants, everyone was a winner.

A quick guide to Targa

Targa road rallies emerged from gymkhanas, road rallies and endurance rallies, and over the past decade the sport has taken off as other championships have withered.

Its attraction is the low cost of entry and the fact that you can start in an everyday road car with almost no preparation required - although if it's a particularly challenging event, you might want to consider tyre selection and underbody protection.

Another draw is that at some Targas, two entrants can take turns at the wheel – and some entrants have been known to buy a car only a week before an event.

Surfaces can range from clean asphalt at race circuits to forest stages. There are more than 60 Targa rallies, and keen participants can progress in the sport through the BTRDA Silver Star Championship.

Images by Paul Morris

Inside Ford's secret archive: meet the man preserving the firm's history

Sun, 31 May 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Ford's archive in Detroit has a huge collection of documents, ephemera and other items that chart its rich history

When Ted Ryan was first approached to become Ford's heritage brand manager, he was intrigued but reluctant.

The issue wasn't that he doesn't consider himself a car nut: his dad, who owns a historic Mustang and Lincoln, and best friend are, and both tried to convince Ryan that "there are great stories in cars". But Ryan initially pushed back, telling them: "I've got Santa Claus and polar bears."

For 21 years before he joined Ford in 2018, Ryan was an archivist for Coca-Cola. "It's one of the best brands in the world," he enthuses. "As well as Santa and the polar bears, you've got Norman Rockwell, the colour red, the secret formula." But just as the fizzy drink is woven into cultural heritage, so is Ford. And Ryan was being offered a new role of archive and heritage brand manager: "They wanted me to treat heritage as a brand, which we didn't do at Coke."

Ryan was soon sold on giving up Santa because, for an archivist, delving into Ford's history was like experiencing Christmas every day. "Something like winning the Le Mans 24 Hours, the movie that was made [Le Mans '66] is great, but it's a work of fiction," he says. "The real story is even better. Then you've got the origins of the Mustang, or the F-150 or, over in England, the Transit. That's an amazing story, a joint venture between Ford in Germany and England: they didn't want to co-operate, but Henry Ford II banged their heads together and they developed a common bond. And now White Van Man is a huge part of British culture."

I'll pause there to let you take breath, so your brain can catch up with Ryan's dizzying answer that spans continents while flitting seamlessly through decades of Ford history covering multiple models and adding in social context. It's a perfect example of what an archivist does, delving through mountains of seemingly mundane information to distil history into a cohesive, compelling story.

"While I like cars, I'm not a car guy per se, but the stories are amazing," says Ryan. While a significant chunk of Ford's rich history clearly now lives in Ryan's incredibly qualified mind, the physical archives are housed at the heart of the Ford Engineering Laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan. It's a fitting choice: the facility, recognisable by its bluff limestone frontage dotted with Beaux Arts decorations, was built just over 100 years ago. It initially housed everything needed to design, construct and test a new vehicle, Ford's accounts department, the company safe, offices for the Dearborn Independent newspaper and even a dance studio (for a period, classes were mandatory).

Through the decades it has been repurposed for various functions, before being closed in 2007. But it was renovated in 2015, and it is now home to the company's future - in the form of an electrified engineering team - and its past: the preserved offices of Henry Ford and Henry Ford II, and the Ford Archives, in a purpose-built facility located in a former courtyard.

You find the archives down an unassuming corridor and first enter a display room akin to a museum: the archives can be visited by appointment, and the exhibits in this room rotate to give a flavour of the rich material held by Ford. When I visit there's a focus on design, so brochures and documents about interior trim for Mustangs and Broncos sit next to an Advanced Concept Truck model, designed back in 2000 by current Renault Group design boss Laurens van den Acker. There's even a flyer produced just after World War II, helping teach people how to buy a car in readiness for the resumption of private vehicle production (when it comes to chrome on your car do you prefer just a little, a medium amount or quite a bit?).

There's also Freddie Ford, a humanoid robot built back in the 1960s to tour dealerships and help sell cars. It was programmed with a dozen answers, but the team have since rejigged him to spit facts about the archives - not that Ryan or his team couldn't offer up any information you might want just as quickly.

Once through the display room you enter the archive itself - and into car nerd heaven. As Freddie Ford will tell you, it features three miles of shelving and contains around 16,000 square feet of paper records, more than three million photographs or negatives, around 15,000 audiovisual assets, full sets of the Ford Times and Ford Times UK magazines (think Reader's Digest with more car-adjacent features), 4500 3D objects and even artworks. Oh, and a sizeable corner full of parcels and boxes containing newly discovered material from Ford facilities all over the world. If you want to know anything about Ford from the past 75 years, it's in here somewhere.

The past 75 years? While the Ford Motor Company dates back to 1903, the archives only cover material from 1950 onwards. The firm's first archivist was Henry Ford himself, who donated the stack of key documents he had kept to the independent Henry Ford Museum.

Henry Ford II wasn't quite so fond of preservation, notes Ryan: "He destroyed all of his correspondence. There's an interview with him, where he says 'my secretary is in the other room shredding everything."

The company's commitment to preserving its past has varied massively over the years. Ryan says: "During Ford's centennial in 2003 there were 23 archivists, and there was a time when there was just a lone archivist in an off-site warehouse. Poor lady."

Ryan is one of the leading experts in the archivist community, so his appointment was a sign of how seriously Ford now takes its history. While Ryan oversees the department, the archive itself is managed by Leslie Armbruster, who heads a team of six.

Their role is a fusion of historian, journalist and detective: they file through the vast array of material to unearth relevant material, while also helping to arrange exhibitions and dealing with requests for verification or fact-checking from marketing, the media and Ford's legal department. So when delving into a new stack of documents, what are Ford's archivists looking for? "We have a standing policy which is 'if you find anything cool, let me know," says Ryan. "Initially, the team said 'what do you mean by cool?' I told them it'll jump out; it'll speak to you, it'll speak to other people."

An example: shortly before talking to Autocar, Ryan was looking for images of the first 8-track cassette player to feature in a car. Looking for an image of a 1965 Thunderbird, he found a picture of a Falcon Galaxy, Fairlane, Mustang, Bronco and Ranchero. He says: "Keep in mind, these products were three years down the road, so one picture gave us a snapshot of what was coming in 1968. Just such a cool image."

Surprisingly, for a job all about preservation, a huge part of the role is choosing what not to keep. "You're curating what's important," says Ryan. "An archivist that can't throw things away isn't a very good one. We probably only need to keep 3% of the stuff Ford produces. You are liberated by what you throw away, and you're trained to know that what you keep will be useful for the future."

One key component of Ryan's work is compiling exhibits or material to support new Ford projects, whether it's the launch of the latest Mustang or Transit, or charting the brand's motorsport history for the Ford Racing season launch. That rich heritage becomes a huge asset, and it's one on which new Chinese rivals can't draw, but Ryan insists that "heritage has to be a rapier, not a broadsword".

He cites the example of motorsport: "We're celebrating 125 years of racing history this year. It's part of our backbone - but I can't talk about that when we're doing F1 and hypercars. What we're doing now is more important than the fact we've been doing it for 125 years. But doing a story about Henry Ford racing the Sweepstakes car 125 years ago gives us legitimacy."

In recent years, Ford has opened up its archive to a whole new audience, by digitising huge chunks of it including more than 19,000 brochures and photos and making it freely available online (fordheritagevault.com). Ryan says the site has been "insanely popular", with close to two million searches per month: "The goal was that if a kid was writing a paper on the Mustang, they can find the original documents online and not go to Wikipedia or AI."

Of Ford's vast collection, Ryan says his favourite documents are the product development files: "Engineers are geeks, and because their secretaries were typing what they said, you get to read all of their critiques of new cars. The depth of the Ford collection is so much stronger than Coca-Cola. Coke had two million objects like vending machines, but not that much paper. So if you want to know why the Ranchero came to be, I can tell you."

Ted's archive highlights

The Le Mans bar bill

To mark Ford's first Le Mans win in 1966, the company held an invite-only celebration at Le Chanteclair in New York. The bar bill shows it was quite the night: 453 individual drinks, 68 bottles of wine and, er, one cake. "If they had followed proper management processes, that bar tab would have been thrown away," says Ryan. "We don't keep receipts but, man, that bartender receipt is pretty cool, and I'm thankful that somebody kept it."

The Ford-Ferrari contract

Perhaps the most famous unsigned contract in motoring: in 1963 Ford's negotiations to buy Ferrari reached the stage where a contract was drawn up, only for Enzo Ferrari to refuse to sign it. Henry Ford II started the Ford GT40 Le Mans project to exact revenge. "When you see something like the Ferrari contract, you just get goosebumps," says Ryan. "It brings history to life in a way that is just different."

March 1957 Jacque: #1 Priority: Mustang must win over all competition, (eap. Camaro) whenever 11 This is our image in U.S. even more important than Le Mans.

The Mustang memo

This memo was sent by Ford vice-president Lee lacocca and set out some modest goals for the firm's new muscle car: "Mustang must win over all competition (esp. Camaro) whenever it runs. This is our image car in US - even more important than Le Mans."

Ryan says: "The 1960s was the Mad Men era: they wrote memos on everything. We've got memos from Lee Lacocca and Don Frey and Walter Hayes from England. You get an amazing view of what happened in that glorious decade."

I sold my classic BMW 7 Series - and bought it back better than ever

Sun, 31 May 2026 06:00:00 +0100

Vip Kukanathan loved his 7 Series so much that he bought it back off the next owner - with a bonus

Question: when is owning one BMW 7 Series like having owned two?

Answer: when you have owned the same one twice and discover that in between you selling it and buying it back, it has been completely restored.

Vip Kukanathan is that lucky man. He first bought his 1989 BMW 730i SE in 2016, when it was showing 85,000 miles. He used it for four years, during which time he drove it in triumph to the south of France, and then, when the repair bills began mounting, parked it up for another two before reluctantly parting with it in 2022.

So far, so not unusual: a lot of people buy big, leggy motors only to offload them when the bills bite.

However, what happened next is extraordinary. Out of the blue last year, Vip was contacted by the chap to whom he had sold the car. He was emigrating, he explained, and couldn't take it with him, so was offering to sell it back. Vip had to think: the car had been on its last legs three years ago, so what would it be like now? "I wasn't keen to have it back," he says.

"I have a BMW 'E30' 3 Series that I love. Did I want a tired old 7 Series as well?" Then the caller said something that made Vip think again: "I've had it completely restored."

Vip recalls: "He went through the list of work that had been done: a bare-metal respray with ceramic coating, new interior, new windscreen, new fuel lines and pump, new radiator, hoses and water pump, new injectors, new suspension parts, new brake lines... All together, he told me he had spent £15,000 on the car.

"I couldn't believe it! The 730i was a nice model but just a regular 7 Series. However, he said it was his pride and joy and fully deserved to be restored. Obviously I wondered how much he wanted for it..." In fact, the chap wanted just £3500 for the car, then with 95,000 miles on the clock. Vip took a deep breath. "I'd paid £5500 for the car in 2016 and sold it in 2022 for £3500, so in effect I was being offered a £15,000 restoration for just £2000," he says.

A done deal, you would think, but, not a chap to believe in miracles, Vip said he would come with a sceptical friend to view the car first. Later, clamping eyes on the gleaming BMW and having studied the photo album detailing its restoration step by step, said friend vowed that if Vip wasn't going to buy it, he would. "That did it," says Vip. "I bought it on the spot."

When I encounter Vip at his local car meet, there's an appreciative knot of enthusiasts gathered around his freshly minted 730i's exposed engine bay, admiring the immaculate straight six with its huge, polished exhaust manifold. "It does attract a lot of interest," says Vip. "It felt very different in a good way when I first got back behind the wheel.

"The 7 Series was designed to be a sportier alternative to the Mercedes S-Class, and it's certainly that, but it's also very comfortable." Could a return trip to the south of France be due?

"Hey Grok, find a charger and tell me the Plymouth score": Tesla AI bot changes driving for good

Sat, 30 May 2026 07:00:00 +0100

It even gave me running advice... My Model Y's in-car assistant is the best automotive innovation in years

When did a truly innovative new feature last appear on a car? Not just a passing trend but a breakthrough against which the tide would never turn. Automatic gearboxes, seatbelts, ESC: you get the idea. Touchscreens definitely don’t qualify…

You’d think the introduction of such features would be a regular occurrence in the electric era, yet however new and fast-improving EV technology may be, it is at its core a propulsion method. We’re seeing improved efficiency, range and charging times, but specific features that you can clearly remember first trying and then craving the next time you got in a car? Nope, not me.

You know what’s coming next: ‘until now’. The new Grok AI voice assistant in the Tesla Model Y is incredible, a game-changer that enhances the car’s usability and enjoyment of journeys, and I’ve missed it in every other car I’ve driven since without it.

Yes, it’s a voice control function, something that has been in cars for ages, but even the best ones have been largely useless, either unable to understand your instructions or unable to carry them out. Grok, on the other hand, is both willing and able to do most things it’s allowed to do in terms of controlling a car (or if it can’t, it will tell you and point you to the relevant touchscreen menu). It’s in essence a talking AI chatbot that has ingested the car’s manual and can also search the internet.

Long-press the microphone button on the steering wheel (or, after the latest software update, simply say “Hey, Grok”) and say, for example: “Navigate me to Bristol city centre and find me a car park. I’d like to arrive with 60% battery. On the way I’d like to visit a Costa coffee shop.” Within seconds, the route is in the sat-nav, charging stops are decided for you and your hot drink is lined up.

Given that the typical response I’ve got from car voice recognition systems to date has been “sorry, I’m unable to carry out that function”, this is some progress.

But it’s so much more than a way of controlling the car and its various functions: it’s the internet in your car in a non-distracting way. For example, driving on the M4 one Saturday early evening, the Plymouth Argyle football team’s coach was driving the other way. I asked Grok who they had played and what the score was. It was a good day for The Pilgrims and an even better one for my curiosity.

I’ve asked it about the weather at my destination, about how busy a charging station ahead was, about parking fees at a car park, about train frequencies – all the aspects of a journey where you usually think ‘I’ll Google that later’.

I’ve also asked it all sorts of other things, such as whether my football team’s game was on the red button that evening and even about a running technique after I’d pulled a calf muscle and was keen to keep exercising (run more on your heels and get the weight over your stride, I was told; it worked). It can sound tenuous, but it really is useful.

As I noted in a previous report, voice control functions have been touted by car makers as a way to control functions in the absence of physical buttons amid the rise of touchscreens. Given how poor the large majority of these systems are, it has felt like a lazy justification.

To date, Grok has tripped up only when I asked it for a scenic route home (it tried to take me about as far away from home as I was at that current point) and for the specific identifying features of a Launch Series version of the Model Y.

There’s a wider point to consider about the quality of this feature. Take the badges and bumpers off electric family crossovers and you would be hard-pressed to tell many apart, not just in the way they look but also in the way they drive. The need to house a large battery between the axles dictates the proportions and dimensions and then the dynamic make-up to deal with the weight. Some are better, some are worse, of course, but nearly all have more in common than they don’t, meaning many a buying decision will come down to price and proximity to and trust in one’s local dealer. So how can a car stand out in such a class?

In the case of the Model Y, it’s a killer feature that if embraced can be transformative to the way you use and enjoy a car.

"Full-on entertaining": Formula E's 805bhp answer to F1 fatigue

Sat, 30 May 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Formula E is stepping off the sidelines with its fearsome new 210mph racer - and more emphasis on proper racing

You can take it or leave it - and, let's face it, so many true-blood motor racing fans prefer the latter option.

But even the haters can't deny it: Formula E has lasted far longer than most expected. Now in its 12th season, the electric single-seater series has survived early technical glitches, widespread scorn, manufacturer pull-outs and a global pandemic to somehow keep the spark alive.

Soon comes the next chapter, and a fourth- generation Formula E racer on which rest a couple of gigawatts of both promise and faith. But forget unlucky for some: unleashing Gen4 in season 13 at the end of this year could and, judging by our first contact, should raise the Formula E game - and in a way that all racing fans and car lovers should genuinely care about. So put aside your EV prejudice, overlook the grating whine... Don't think about the electric bit. Just consider this as a new racing car - one that is properly, stupendously and seriously fast.

The Gen4

It's a long way from the first generation of 2014, when limited range forced drivers to switch cars mid-race just to get to the finish. You can see the progression in our performance chart overleaf but, in short, the Gen4 takes a significant leap even from the already rapid current Gen3 Evo.

Topping out at 210mph, the Gen4 does 0-62mph in 1.8sec and 0-124mph in 4.4sec - 1.5sec faster than its predecessor. In race mode, it has 50% more power and is projected to lap as much as 10sec faster over some laps in qualifying mode. In Attack Mode, which drivers are obliged to trigger for a set period of time in each race, a whopping 600kW (805bhp) is available through all four wheels. And Formula E becomes the only single-seater series to offer permanent all-wheel drive.

So the unavoidable question: how does it compare to Formula 1? The only place where both series race at the same track configuration is Monaco - and "last year in qualifying, F1 was 18% quicker in lap time", says Porsche's factory motorsport director, Florian Modlinger. "We were around Formula 3 pace with Gen3; with Gen4 the target is to be in between F1 and Formula 2."

	GEN 1	GEN 2	GEN 3 EVO	GEN 4
Wheelbase	3100mm	3100mm	2970.5mm	3080mm
Min weight*	900kg	903kg	863kg	950kg
Max power	270bhp	335bhp	470bhp	805bhp
Max regeneration	150kW	250kW	600kW	700kW
Energy recovery	About 15%	About 25%	Nearly 50%	Over 40%
Powertrain	RWD	RWD	RWD/4WD	4WD
Top speed	140mph	174mph	200mph	210mph
*including driver

Spectacle now key

When Formula E was inaugurated in 2014, the environmental angle was a clear and obviously worthy messaging point. Sustainability remains at the heart of the series, but we hear that all the time from everything and everyone, whatever they're selling. What has changed in Formula E now is the emphasis on the sporting spectacle.

As Jaguar team principal Ian James puts it: "We've got to stop referring to ourselves as the pinnacle of electric racing. We should be able to stand on our own two feet as a world-class sport."

Earlier this year, Max Verstappen shone a light on the series when he suggested the new- look F1 was too much like Formula E. Contrary to popular perception, he wasn't being derogatory: he later clarified that he likes the electric series but believes F1 is wrong to go down the same path of energy management motor racing. He has also apparently given a thumbs up to Gen4, branding the new car "cool".

Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds spends more of his time than he would wish talking about the F1 comparison. "Any time you've got a generational talent, a four-time world champion, talking about your sport, that's not a terrible thing," he tells me at France's Circuit Paul Ricard, where I'm witnessing the 'unleashing' of Gen4. "Also, while a lot of people wanted to interpret his comments in many different ways, [Max] clarified them: 'If we want to race electric cars, race electric cars. Why are we trying to sit on the fence between these two technologies? We are losing some of the special sauce we have in F1.' I have some sympathy with that conversation."

What's intriguing is that Formula E and F1 now share the same rights holder. American media giant Liberty Global controls both. Dodds' boss, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries, was also at Paul Ricard. He referred directly to F1 as "our cousins" and added a good-natured dig - something about "no half measures" and how Formula E was "all in".

Like all motorsport leaders outside F1, Dodds knows his series can't compete with grand prix racing when it comes to a global audience. "We've said by 2030 we want to be the second-biggest [form of] motorsport, only behind F1, and I think that's doable," he says. "It will be interesting to see how F1 develops in a post- combustion era. We're the only people who can race all-electric [single-seaters]." That references a cast-iron contracted guarantee given to Formula E by motorsport's global governing body, the FIA.

Energy management racing

If wow-factor spectacle is central to Formula E's premise, why must its drivers and race engineers focus so heavily on managing energy corner to corner, lap to lap in races? That won't change with the Gen4. Given Formula E's obvious and genuinely gargantuan progression in technology, why does the racing equivalent of range anxiety remain a pillar of its show? It seems odd that a series that showcases EV capability plays up what is still the major turn-off for buyers of new road cars.

"We work on the basis we want to race for about 50 minutes," explains Dodds. "With the incredible power this [new] car has, even with its regeneration capability, if we just said 'go wild, foot to the floor, no energy management, you wouldn't get what we think is an optimal race time for a fan."

Dodds also insists this element is good for the show: "If you have energy management, it does a couple of things. One, it's highly strategic. Two, it creates close pack racing. If we went to a sprint race version and unleashed this car, it would be a pretty incredible spectacle, but it would be a much shorter race.

"There could be room for multiple different formats going forward. But as the technology gets better and battery development is on such a curve, you might get to a point where you could race for an hour with zero energy management. That would be a great problem to have."

Car makers still love it

Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, most recently McLaren and Maserati: all dipped in and now have dipped out of Formula E. But there's still an impressive roster of six that have bought into Gen4: Porsche, Jaguar, Nissan, Mahindra, Lola-Yamaha, and Stellantis (with a start-up Opel entry replacing DS alongside Citroën). The likes of the Indycar Series and World Rally Championship would love such a mass commitment.

This year marks Jaguar's 10th anniversary in Formula E. Principal James, who switched from departed McLaren for this season, has spent eight years in the series and half his career in the mainstream automotive industry.

"There's the technology itself that we've been developing," he said when asked why the JLR brand remains wedded to this form of racing. The race-to-road transfer is genuine, he insists. "In motorsport we don't have the constraints that are necessary in mainstream automotive. We can push the boundaries harder, fail faster and learn. There are already key elements on the Formula E powertrain that have fed back into Jaguar road cars."

What the drivers think

At Paul Ricard, other than Formula E's own test and development car, only Porsche, Jaguar and Opel have a Gen4 to run on track. Not all of the drivers have driven one yet, which is why so many are watching eagerly, with a palpable sense of anticipation (and envy).

Porsche's duo are among the lucky few to have already racked up Gen4 miles. "First impression is it's a lot faster," 2023/24 champion Pascal Wehrlein says. "A lot more power, downforce, grip when braking; we're now pulling almost 4g at times. I'd also say it's even more complex than the Gen3. It's very impressive, the acceleration out of the corners. I'm looking forward to the feedback from fans." Nico Müller adds: "As drivers, we always look for speed and this is a huge leap - a revolution on track."

Dimensionally, the Gen4 is visually bigger - as emphasised when all four generations of car lined up on the pit straight. Oversized and heavy is a common trend in modern motorsport but, crucially, Müller points out these four-wheel- drive beasts are more agile than you might expect. "You can wrestle this car, it rewards being a bit more aggressive," he says. "That makes it enjoyable from inside and outside. Although the car is much bigger, we can still go wheel to wheel. The racing will still be tactical, still a unique mix to manage energy and slipstream to find efficiency. Also, it's an engineering challenge which Pascal and I enjoy."

Energy management racing can be complicated to follow, but racing drivers do genuinely seem to relish this aspect. Going flat out is for qualifying, they say, but racing is and should be more nuanced.

More space to race

From the beginning, Formula E has traded on taking its 'green' form of racing into the heart of the world's major cities, where there's no place for noisy, fossil-fuelled V8s. But characteristically, most of its street tracks are confined, short and tight. Everyone involved accepts some will no longer be suitable, given the Gen4's extra power and size.

These cars no longer look slow on normal race tracks but, as Wehrlein points out, city races are "part of Formula E's DNA", so an ideal calendar would include a mix of venues. The recent Gen3 Evo round at old-school Jarama in Spain (with a chicane added on the pit straight) went down well. Options for where Formula E can and should race have now opened up - but London's indoor-outdoor Excel track definitely won't work. The hot money is on a British round at Silverstone. Dodds admits the home of the British GP is "in the mix" but adds: "We don't just want to race on the same circuits as F1."

Will you watch - or care?

Dodds admits that winning over traditionalists remains tough. "Sometimes it feels like people take a moral position [on EVs], and we're certainly not asking them to do that," he says. But for what it's worth, here's what James said when we asked how he would convince Autocar readers to give Formula E a chance: "I was at the Monteblanco circuit in Spain a couple of months ago for our first-ever Gen4 test, and I remember the driver taking off their helmet after the first couple of laps and seeing the grin on their face. It tells you all you need to know if you are into cars and like your motorsport. Gen4 is going to be full-on entertaining - probably the world's best motor racing."

From the cockpit

James Rossiter knows all about powerful racing cars. A former F1 test driver, he has raced the biggest, most brutal of the modern breed - Super Formula and Super GT in Japan, LMP1 prototypes and Hypercars around the world. It would take a lot to impress him, then, but as Gen4's test pilot, his adrenaline-fuelled reaction at the Paul Ricard launch appeared genuine. Here's what he told us.

"Having four-wheel drive, the acceleration from the apex is faster than an F1 car. It's unbelievable. You have instant power, so much controllability in your right foot. Everything is right there. It's such a unique experience to have that power - it's going to open every single driver's eyes.

"And they are very agile, that's what surprised me during the development phase. [French car constructor] Spark has done such a great job in the suspension geometry, to pad out what we have learned with the Gen3 car with the powertrain on the front, utilising the front axle while having such an agile car. It's really done well.

"I'm super-excited to see a younger generation joining Formula E, because this car really is only second to F1. To many drivers, I think it will be more appealing than F1 too."

Trackside view

Every time I head to a race track, I'm looking for that old buzz. The hair standing up on the back of my neck, just as it did when I was a kid experiencing the shock and awe of F1 for the first time way back in the 1980s. A few days before Paul Ricard, I'd felt that thrill again as Jenson Button demonstrated his 2009 Brawn at Goodwood, so Gen4 had a lot to live up to.

But standing on the pitwall, face pressed to the wire-mesh fence, there it was again as James Rossiter rocketed away from a standing start. Okay, the whine has nothing on a V8 and V10 shriek. But the eerie whoosh and scrub of tyre rubber as Rossiter fired past on a flier... First time through, your brain struggles to comprehend the speed. The close-encounter experience is up there with watching an Indycar power through an oval turn without lifting or the day I saw a first-generation, plain-carbon Audi R18 turbo diesel LMP1 ghosting along Sebring's main drag. That's a good sign.

The cheap small car survives: Life with a mega-mile Ford Fiesta

Sat, 30 May 2026 06:00:00 +0100

Slow and smelly wins the race: My £2500 supermini proved budget motoring is still possible - and fun

Recent reports show that Britain's car fleet is getting older, whether because people are reluctant to switch to newer machines or just that their trusty motors are more reliable. But what is life really like running a car that's had a hard life?

Last year I bought a Ford Fiesta with 130,000 miles on the clock, which I owned for a year until selling it recently. So what is like really like running a 17-year-old car?

Thinking different (or not): why I bought a Fiesta

I like to think I’m the sort of person who doesn’t follow trends, who does things just that little bit differently from everyone else – so here’s my newly acquired Ford Fiesta.

If I’d had my way, my partner would be running around in a Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato or a Talbot Matra Rancho, having passed her driving test a few months ago. Alas, her requirements for a first car were rather more centred on efficiency, reliability and practicality than esotericism, so it came down to a supermini, and this 2009 1.4-litre Titanium 5dr finally won us over by virtue of being fairly decent value, the right colour and less than five miles from home.

It’s fine, really, but for the £2500 we paid I might have asked for a better-smelling interior, a working boot release and carpets that were still glued to the floor. It’s not holding up badly for a 130,000-mile supermini, though, truth be told: it still pulls well, steers tightly and stops straight.

I was rather disappointed that we only managed around 30mpg over the first 100 miles, but I attributed it to my newly qualified partner’s rev-happy suburban driving style and assumed the figure would improve as her right foot lightened with time.

That is until I stopped to pump up a slightly pillowy rear tyre and discovered we were shockingly low on pressure at each corner. I’m expecting a massive increase in efficiency now that they’re all properly pumped up, and the car is tangibly more responsive and better-riding, to boot. One pound well spent.

A beginner's guide to aroma therapy

Used car buying guides will always tell you to check for rust, knackered clutches, dicky electrics and all sorts of other common foibles you might find on a second-hand motor.

What they don't tend to warn you about is the smell. So when the interior of my 130k-mile Fiesta started honking bad enough to make me gag, I didn't know what to do. I can't describe it: imagine a thick, cloying funk of old, moist organic matter. A pretty grim fragrance - more Vom Ford than Tom Ford.

I cleaned up a smattering of mould under the damp rear carpet and invested in some silicon sacks that (brilliantly) keep the cabin dry in winter, but still the aroma persisted. After a while I realised that it was at its worst when I turned the blower up, which gave me an idea...

A quick scan of the forums and I had my culprit: the cabin filter. For the princely sum of about £8 I had a replacement in my hands just 24 hours later, and set about the quick task of swapping it in.

And thank goodness I did. Not only was the old filter a putrid shade of green-grey, it was also decorated with a fairly thick layer of loose, unidentifiable grime and crumbled as I removed it from its housing. These are meant to be replaced every two years - I'd be surprised if this had been in the car less than 10. A cautionary tale... When did you last do yours?

Otherwise, this high-mileage hero has been serving us pretty well, so I was surprised to get a panicked phone call from my finacée while abroad the other day, alerting me to an alarming amount of white smoke coming from the car on start-up. That certainly did sound worrying, particularly as the car isn't worth enough to warrant a costly head gasket replacement, so I was keen to have a look myself when I got home.

Impatient as my better half is (and warned by alarmist associates that it could blow up at any minute), she couldn't wait that long and summoned the RAC, who arrived quickly and kindly went through the motions before confirming my quietly-held suspicions: it was a bit of a cold day, and the white smoke was just steam from the condensing exhaust gases.

Annoying, but no better repair than one that doesn't need doing. On we go.

A breakdown too far?

You never want to smell burning oil when you’re driving – much less on Easter Sunday when you’re 80 miles from your destination, running late and have a boot full of chocolate eggs that need delivering urgently.

I resisted the urge to remind my partner that we could have taken a shiny new electric car for the trip to see her family in Birmingham and instead quickly ascertained that oil was leaking from the rocker cover onto the exhaust manifold – but not severely enough to make me consider an extended stay at Oxford services.

Holding our breath, and with one eye on the hard shoulder, we nursed the Fiesta back down the M40. Soon after, I treated it to a new gasket as a reward for staying alive – good timing, really, because it looks like I’ll soon be moving the Fiesta on to make space for a new car.

Naturally, though, now that discussions about its replacement have begun in earnest, the Fiesta has been on its best behaviour. It’s been whizzing up and down the M40 and trundling around south London for weeks now without a hitch (if you ignore the irritating pulley rattle and dicky electric mirrors), so I’ve also treated it to a deep clean and a new front badge to make it look a bit less downtrodden.

It even caused a bit of an upset at the bookies by passing its MOT with no advisories. That in itself was a massive relief, because I can’t bring myself to put any significant money towards keeping this thing on the road – no matter how much I find myself begrudgingly appreciative of its charms.

If I were feeling a bit frivolous and silly, I might be tempted to allocate some funds towards making it just a bit peppier; this wheezy 1.4-litre Duratec had a respectable 95bhp from new but I'd wager it's leaked out a good glug over the last 16 years, and the clunky, sluggish Powershift auto 'box to which it's mated does it no favours. You know it's bad when you get overtaken by an old Defender towing a horse box on a stretch of uphill dual carriageway...

Final report: Farewell to the Fiesta

My partner and I bought this leggy, 130k-mile 2009 Fiesta on a whim the day after she passed her driving test last year. It ticked a lot of boxes in being automatic, black, three-door, a bit snazzy and local – and on a brief test drive it seemed up to scratch in spite of its mega mileage.

If I’m honest, I’d have checked it more thoroughly, but before I started haggling with the dealer, my partner had already given it a name and showed all her friends her ‘new car’ – so it was coming home whatever happened.

We didn’t do too badly; over the course of around 5000 miles the Fiesta didn’t have any major meltdowns. A scary-looking oil leak was quickly fixed with a new rocker gasket; re-sealing the rear tyres stopped them deflating; fiddling with the wires in the bootlid silenced the temperamental alarm; and I made the cabin smell slightly less deathly by deep-cleaning the A/C system.

The 1.4 donkey only averaged about 33mpg on a cruise, and sweet lord it was slow. But I actually quite enjoyed driving it for the uncorrupted nature of its steering, simple cockpit and surprisingly resolved ride. Decent spec, too, with cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, electric mirrors – enough to make it feel suitably modern.

I won’t miss it too dearly; we got most of our money back and the shiny new Renault 5 company car that’s replaced it is vastly more stylish and easier to use – but having not owned an old banger for several years, I enjoyed the sense of propriety and cash-savviness that comes with keeping your own motor.

The best cars ever from Japan

Fri, 29 May 2026 21:50:43 +0100

We select the machines we reckon are the most important and finest examples from the Land of the Rising Sun

Japan has a long tradition of engineering excellence.

That has helped the country produce many of the world’s most interesting and entertaining cars. And as the home of roadside drinks machines selling hot coffee in a can - amongst other exotica - there's no surprise it's produced its fair share of oddities as well. Here’s our list of the best car from Japan, in alphabetical order.

Autozam AZ-1

Miniaturisation is a Japanese art and the Autozam AZ-1 is a fine example of this. Built by Mazda, the AZ-1 met the strict kei car regulations yet also managed to be hugely desirable thanks to its mini supercar looks. The mid-mounted 657cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine developed only 63 hp, but it revved happily to 7000 RPM. Weighing only 720kg (1584lb), this was enough power to see the AZ-1 from 0-60mph in 8.0 seconds.

Mazda also offered uprated Mazdaspeed parts such as a bodykit, wheels, suspension and even a limited slip differential. There was also a Suzuki version called the Cara, which managed 531 sales, while the AZ-1 notched up 4392 to make it a rare and collectible car today.

Daihatsu Charade GTti

One hundred brake horsepower-per-liter was the stuff of race cars in the late 1990s, yet Daihatsu squeezed this much from the Charade’s 993cc three-pot motor. Turbocharging helped achieve this magic figure and the rev-hungry engine helped the lightweight hot hatch from rest to 60mph in 7.7 seconds.

Fizzing performance wasn’t the Charade GTti’s only party trick as it handled well too, matching the taut looks. The GTi that replaced the GTti in 1993 was fun, but not a patch on the original that also proved to be a surprisingly able rally car with success in events as diverse as the Lombard RAC and Safari rallies.

Datsun 240Z

As Japan was revolutionising the motorcycle world with affordable, reliable machines in the late 1960s, the Datsun 240Z did the same for sports cars. Launched in 1969, the 240Z outdid the MGB thanks to a six-cylinder engine with 151 hp, good enough for 0-60mph in 8.1 seconds. There was no drop-top model, but that didn’t stop buyers snapping up 622,649 Zs if you include the 260 model that followed in 1974. It was a particular hit in the US.

It’s easy to see why the Datsun was so successful with its Albrecht Goertz-penned sleek coupe shape. It also handled superbly and didn’t need the constant mechanical attention of the rivals from Europe.

Honda Civic

One of the longest running dynasties in Japanese automotive manufacturing, the Honda Civic arrived in 1973 and the name is still going strong. In that time, the Civic has grown in size and ambition, as well as broadening to include coupe, hot hatch and hybrid models. As a barometer for the motoring world, few are more in tune than the Civic.

The Civic also helped the Triumph name soldier on into the 1980s with the Acclaim model that was based on the second generation of Honda’s small hatch. Rover also based its 200 and 400 models on the Civic. To date, more than 28 million Civics of all generations have been sold.

Honda NSX

When Honda set its mind to creating the best supercar, the result was the 1990 NSX. Everything about it was created from scratch, including the 2977cc V6 engine. It might have shared the same bore and stroke as the Legend saloon’s V6 motor, but every casting and detail was different such was Honda’s determination to perfect the NSX. Even Ayrton Senna helped develop the all-aluminium chassis’ dynamics.

The NSX could hit 157mph, cover 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds and was everyday usable. Later improvements made it even quicker, yet Honda rarely sold more than 1000 NSXs per year between 1990 and 2005 due to badge snobbery. Those snobs missed out on a car that was properly special.

Honda S2000

As birthday presents go, Honda did a lot better than a book token and pair of socks with the S2000. To mark its 50th year, Honda came up with an edgy two-seater sports car with a deliciously rev-hungry 2.0-liter engine. The all-aluminium motor used V-TEC variable valve timing to deliver 243 hp, making it the most powerful engine-per-litre at its 1999 launch.

More than 100,000 bought Honda’s sports car gift to the world during a 10-year production life. Even then, the S2000 still cut a dash against the likes of the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster to underline just how special it was and still remains to this day.

Isuzu Trooper

The first generation of Isuzu Trooper made its debut in 1981, though it didn’t arrive in most parts of Europe until 1987. When it did, it was an instant threat to the Land Rover Defender and the Toyota Land Cruiser. Here was a serious off-roader that could also be used on the motorway, especially when larger gasoline and diesel engines arrived in 1988.

A second generation of Trooper arrived in 1991 just in time to do battle with the Land Rover Discovery. Not as innovative as the Discovery in its design, the Trooper still found plenty of buyers to add to the more than half a million first gen cars sold. The original Trooper ended up being sold under 14 different names.

Lexus LFA

More than most countries, Japan likes to throw up bespoke models every now again simply to let the world know what great engineers it has. The Lexus LFA was only ever intended for a 500-car production run, yet it also recalibrated how supercars were built. Almost all of the LFA’s structure is carbonfibre, while the 4.8-liter V10 engine revved so quickly Lexus had to design a digital rev counter to keep up with it.

Lexus knew it was on to a winner and, to prevent speculators cashing in on it, US buyers could only sell their car back to the dealer for market value or the original list price depending on which was lower. The LFA left a lasting impression and its styling can still be seen in the influence it has had on today’s Toyota Supra.

Lexus LS

Everything about the Lexus LS was new when it was unveiled in 1989, even the company. It may have been a luxury division of Toyota, but Lexus was very much a standalone brand that aimed to take on and beat the high-end establishment from Europe and the US. To do that, Lexus figured it had to be better in every respect, and it was.

The LS’s 4.0-liter V8 was eerily smooth and quiet, the ride sumptuously smooth, and the equipment made a Mercedes S-Class look bleak by comparison. Attention to detail is what set the LS apart, and it was the first car to offer 0.5-degree increments for its digitally controlled air conditioning. The clinical precision wasn’t to all executive buyers’ tastes – and in most places the brand image still isn’t what it could be compared to older rivals - but the LS rattled its rivals into improving their game substantially; they started by buying LSs and dismantling them to discover their secrets.

Mazda MX-5

On so many levels, the Mazda MX-5 is possibly the most significant car ever to come from Japan. It saved the open-top two seat sports car class from oblivion, has swelled Mazda’s coffers for more than three decades, and has allowed millions of drivers to enjoy the pleasure of a simple roadster. The fact that more than a million MX-5s across four generations have been built says it all.

Despite this, the MX-5 has never rested on its considerable laurels and Mazda has steadily updated and improved the MX-5 throughout its life. Even then, Mazda has been careful not to just throw more power at the car, instead maintaining the right balance of performance, grip and rear-drive handling.

Mazda RX-7

Mazda’s commitment to the rotary engine is as laudable as it is baffling to some. The RX-7 wasn’t the first Mazda to use this smooth, revvy motor but it was its natural home as a stylish sports car. In its first generation, the RX-7 was a clear swipe at the Porsche 924, but later RX-7s moved further into the German’s heartland territory with more power and performance.

In each case, the RX-7 revelled in being different and those who bought into it loved it all more because of that engine and approach. You also had to be resigned to steep running costs, but the rewards were worth it as the compact engine was mounted low in the chassis to deliver superb handling. Sadly, later RX-7 models were unable to replicate the success of the first car that scored nearly half a million sales.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, or Evo as it quickly became known, started life as a pared back machine. It even has steel wheels to save weight, while the 247 hp four-cylinder engine drove all four wheels to homologate the car for rallying.

It proved a successful formula and several generations followed using the same recipe, notably the Evo VI thanks to Tommi Mäkinen’s title wins in the World Rally Championship. However, even four WRC titles were not enough to convince many buyers to choose the ungainly Evolution Wagon estate, with only 2924 built.

Mitsubishi Shogun

The Mitsubishi Shogun, or Pajero as it was known in most parts of the world or Montero in Spain, arrived in 1981. It fitted neatly into a gap between the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover, offering the former’s size and off-road ability with plenty of the latter’s creature comforts. Buyers loved it and a long-wheelbase model arrived in 1983. Engines were tough petrol and diesels, while a smooth 3.0-liter V6 joined the range. It was also used in the second-generation Shogun with smoothed out styling that was a direct and serious rival to the Land Rover Discovery.

Mitsubishi proved the Shogun’s worth by entering the Paris-Dakar endurance race, winning the Cars Class 12 times between 1984 and 2007. It also notched up 150 stage wins in that time to be the most successful manufacturer in the event’s history.

Nissan 200SX

Nissan wasn’t shy about launching sports cars in 1989. That year saw the 300ZX and Skyline GT-R arrive, but it’s the 200SX that was the big seller. It achieved more than 1 million sales in just four years up to its replacement in 1993 by its successor. The 1989 S13 model’s clean lines were complimented by a turbocharged 1.8-liter engine, with 166 hp and later 173 hp, and excellent rear-wheel drive dynamics.

Called Silvia in most markets, this line of sports cars first arrived in 1975 and lasted across six generations until 2002. There was also a 180SX version of the S13 model that Nissan continued to offer in some markets alongside the new S14, but not in Europe. Now regarded as one of the best sports coupes to come out of Japan, the 200SX is rightly in the sights of collectors.

Nissan GT-R

The GT-R badge has a history stretching back to 1969, but it’s the later models that are the definitive versions for most Nissan aficionados. These models got rolling with the 1989 R32 that went on to enjoy huge motorsport success, dominating Japanese and Australian touring car series. The R33 that followed in 1995 was an instant hit. Nissan followed up with the R34 in 1998, while the present GT-R pitched up in late 2007.

What all of these cars share is an uncanny ability to make shattering acceleration, grip and handling all very accessible in a car also capable of carrying four people and meandering to the supermarket. The only problem with the earlier models now is finding one that hasn’t been modified or drifted to within an inch of its life.

Subaru Forester

Subaru was among the first to spot that SUV buyers wanted a car more suited to on-road use than one for plugging away through mud. The Forester was the result of this thinking, based on the Impreza floorpan but with more ride height and four-wheel drive as standard. Taller than the Impreza wagon, the Forester was brilliantly practical and soon gained a cult following.

That keen customer base was later rewarded with the Turbo S model that had a 172 hp version of the Impreza’s flat-four motor. It was still quick across country roads, and if you wanted more pace there were STi versions available to import from Japan with 265 hp.

Subaru Impreza

The standard Subaru Impreza was a decent car but, let’s be honest, it’s the Turbo 2000 and its derivatives that elevated this saloon and estate range to greatness. The Turbo started life with a modest 211 hp, but it gave Subaru the base for its new World Rally Championship car that quickly went on to be the car to beat and won Colin McRae his 1995 world title.

Later versions of quick Imprezas gained more power, less weight, and even fewer doors in the case of the two-door 22B. However, it was always the sensational balance of the fast Imprezas that gave them such a huge reputation and explains why they remain in big demand now.

Suzuki Vitara

Suzuki has made many intriguing cars, but the 1988 Vitara stands out as arguably the very first lifestyle SUV. Its launch nipped in ahead of the Land Rover Discovery, which was a much larger machine, so the Vitara also had affordability on its side. Another factor in the Vitara’s favour was rapidly climbing insurance premiums for hot hatches which made drivers look for alternatives.

The Vitara fitted that bill perfectly as many were modified and personalised with wide wheels and tyres, bull bars, and graphics. Again, Suzuki got in there long before BMW made personalisation popular with its Mini. At its core, the Vitara was a simple, rugged car that worked as a family runabout.

Toyota Corolla

The world’s best-selling car if you go by badge, the Toyota Corolla has been a constant since 1966. Over the course of 12 generations to date, it has racked up sales of around 50 million, putting the likes of the Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle in the sales shade. While rarely exciting, the Corolla earns its place among the best cars from Japan because it appeals to so many buyers.

The Corolla is also a car that has developed in sympathy with customer demands, so it has evolved continually throughout its life. This has seen it adopt hybrid technology before most rivals did, and Toyota keeps the sales going by offering the Corolla in a huge number of markets.

Toyota Land Cruiser

Starting life as a go-anywhere vehicle for Japan’s National Police Reserve, the Toyota Land Cruiser has been in production in all its many guises since 1951. More than 11 million of the 4x4s have been built since then, all following the same principle of takings its occupants wherever they want to go regardless of the terrain.

The original Land Cruiser’s inspiration was clearly the Willys Jeep, but it found its own style with the 1960 40 Series. The J70 Land Cruiser launched in 1983 is still available in some locations such as Africa and Australia, but elsewhere, the Land Cruiser has developed into a more luxurious but no less able SUV that is widely regarded as the first choice for any off-road expedition.

Toyota MR2

The Toyota MR2 was the first mid-engined production car to come out of Japan, for which it deserves credit. What elevates the MR2 to sit among the greats from its home country is the way this affordable sports car went and handled. Only four years after the demise of the MGB, the MR2 was a revelation with its frisky engine and lively dynamics.

Two subsequent generations of MR2 developed the theme while retaining the Toyota’s everyman appeal. It also demanded concentration to get the very best from it, so it was a much more involving car than many gave it credit for in all three generations.

Toyota GR Yaris

Proof that a car doesn’t need the perspective of years to sit among the best comes in the shape of the Toyota GR Yaris. From the moment we sat behind the wheel of this bespokely built hot hatch, we knew it was special. Yes, the spec sheet tells you it should be, but it’s only when you drive the GR Yaris does it reveal the full extent of its brilliance.

Like so many of the best fast cars, this Toyota is a homologation special, created to qualify the Yaris for the World Rally Championship. This brings four-wheel drive, a 262 hp turbocharged three-cylinder 1.6-liter engine, and 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds. It’s most telling that owners of top drawer supercars are also adding this terrific Japanese car to their garages. Except in America; sorry folks, but the car is deemed too small to succeed in that market.

Toyota Previa

Toyota’s Previa wasn’t the first seven- or eight-seat people carrier. It wasn’t even the first to market, but what it did manage was to show this type of car could be good to drive. Toyota did this by mounting the engine at a 75-degree angle to lie almost flat between the front seats. It gave the Previa a low centre of gravity to counter the tall-sided styling, so handled with some panache.

A 2.2-liter supercharged version of this first-generation Previa was offered in some markets, giving 160 hp to the standard 2.4-liter gas engine's 137 hp. Subsequent generations were not as daring technically but offered even greater practicality.

Toyota Prius

The Toyota Prius is not just significant as a Japanese car, it has a social and cultural importance that goes way beyond the automotive world. This is down to Toyota almost single-handedly pioneering and promoting hybrid technology in the car long before the EV revolution took hold, and at a time when arch-rival Volkswagen was heading down the diesel dead-end.

Launched in 1997, the Prius’ gasoline-electric power delivered low CO2 emissions for the time of 114g/km and 48 MPG combined economy. All this and it was still a practical small hatch. Little wonder Toyota sold more than 123,000 first-generation Prius in six years, which is impressive for such a trail-blazing machine.

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25 of Renault’s Greatest Performance Hits

Fri, 29 May 2026 21:50:36 +0100

Ever since Louis Renault founded the car company that bears his name in 1898, the diamond-logoed brand has always had a thing for going quickly.

Whilst, today, Renault predominantly occupies itself with producing small hatchbacks and crossovers, the brand has an illustrious reputation for building some of the finest performance cars ever produced – both for the road and the racetrack.

However, with the recent unveilings of both the mad 5 Turbo 3E and the ultra-special Alpine A110 Ultime, it appears that the love for making fast cars has well and truly returned – and, to celebrate the fact, here are 25 of the Greatest Renault Performance Hits.

1: Renault Type K (1902)

In the early years of his company, Louis Renault used motorsport as his primary marketing strategy. However, by 1902 the competition was beginning to heat up as cars became increasingly more powerful.

Therefore, Renault’s racer, the Type K, which had previously been equipped with a DeDion-Bouton-sourced powerplant, received an all-new, Renault-designed four-cylinder motor that was good for 24bhp. The updated Type K made the most of its new engine, storming to victory at the reputable 1902 Paris-Vienna race, and completing over 800 miles (1300km) at an average speed of 39mph (62.5km/h).

2: Renault 40 CV (1926)

The 40CV was a luxury model built by Renault during the early 20th century; unveiled at the 1910 Paris Motor Show, and sold from 1922 until 1928, it was a primary example of European automotive exuberance from the period. In certain forms, the 40CV had a 9.0-litre engine, weighed over 2500kg and measured 5 metres in length. Not exactly the ideal basis for a performance car, then.

Well, the 40CV did, incredibly, enjoy success in motorsport. It famously scored a win for Renault at the 1925 Monte Carlo rally, and a heavily modified 1926 example, known as the ‘NM’ (pictured), broke several speed records in period.

3: Renault Dauphine Gordini (1961)

In 1955, Renault replaced their best-selling car, the 4CV, with a new model called the Dauphine. However, after a series of rally wins in 1956, Renault were motivated to build a faster version.

Developed in collaboration with engineer Amédée Gordini, Renault unveiled the Dauphine Gordini in 1961. Admittedly, this ‘performance’ version didn’t really possess much performance – 0-62mph (100km/h) took 27 seconds – but it was significant nevertheless, proving to be the first model to sport the now legendary ‘Gordini’ name. The most sought-after version is the 1093, which was a homologation special with 55bhp, and only 2140 units were ever built.

4: Renault 8 Gordini (1964)

The next Renault to sport the ‘Gordini’ namesake was the humble 8. This model is arguably the most synonymous with the name today, thanks to its iconic twin white stripes and unusual quad-headlight setup.

The R8 Gordini offered a significant step on from the Dauphine; while it shared the rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout, the R8 ‘Gorde’ produced 95bhp, or nearly double that of a standard Renault 8. In 1966 it was updated with a 1.3-litre engine and a five-speed gearbox, allowing for a top speed of 108mph (175km/h) – a serious figure at the time.

5: Renault 12 Gordini (1970)

Next up came the 12 Gordini, which was radically different to the R8 ‘Gorde’ that it replaced – not least because the engine and driven wheels were located at the front of the car rather than the back.

Renault aimed to make the 12 Gordini as light as possible; for instance, the seats were simply made of fabric stretched around a tubular frame structure. It also made a respectable 116bhp, which meant a top speed of 115mph (185km/h); although the incredibly cool stripes probably made it even faster still...

6: Alpine A110 (1973)

Now, strictly speaking, the original Alpine A110 – unveiled in 1961, and put into production in 1962 – wasn’t really a Renault, as at that point the two companies were unrelated. However, Renault became majority stakeholder of Alpine in 1973, which also happened to be the most important year for the A110, so it more than deserves to be here.

1973 was significant because it marked the year that an A110 won the very first FIA World Rally Championship, beating the likes of Porsche and Lancia to the title. The little Alpine had a 140bhp four-cylinder engine, making it pretty underpowered compared to rivals; however, with its tiny ‘Berlinette’-style fibreglass body, the A110 weighed in at just over 700kg wet. This made it incredibly agile, allowing Alpine-Renault to dominate the rally scene.

7: Renault-Alpine A442B (1978)

Another incredibly significant car, the A442B was responsible for winning Renault the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In collaboration with Alpine, the A442B was entered into the Prototypes World Championship in 1975; but victory at La Sarthe in 1978 would prove to be its greatest achievement. Driven by Didier Peroni and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in tough conditions, the six-cylinder, 500bhp racer achieved 220mph (360km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight before taking the chequered flag in first place, in front of a home crowd.

8: Renault RS10 (1979)

In the 1979 Formula 1 World Championship, Renault made history with the RS10, which became the first turbocharged F1 car in history to win a race.

Up until this point, turbochargers hadn’t really been taken seriously in the sport due to reliability issues, but the RS10’s maiden victory set the trend for decades to come. The victory in question was at the 1979 French Grand Prix, and the 530bhp RS10 was both pole-sitter and race-winner at the hands of Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Teammate Rene Arnoux bookended the podium by finishing the race in third.

9: Renault 5 Turbo (1980)

After such turbocharged success in motorsport, it was only a matter of time until turbo technology trickled down into a Renault road car. While the lesser-known 18 Turbo, a 110bhp saloon, was the first road-going Renault to be equipped with a turbocharger, the car that followed is now the stuff of automotive legend.

In 1980, Renault decided that what their best-selling family hatchback, the R5, needed most was a 160bhp mid-mounted, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, as well as outrageously wide rear arches and a superhero-spec red and blue interior. But, the idea went down rather well; and the R5 Turbo was born. It proved an instant hit, spawning fire-breathing rally variants that made up to 350bhp, while also becoming a formidable road car in the process. They are incredibly sought after today, alongside the R5 Turbo II that came along shortly afterwards.

10: Renault 5 Turbo GT (1985)

However, a hot version of the Renault 5 that won’t cost you the same today as a large house deposit is the 5 Turbo GT. Made in far greater numbers than its older, more powerful brother, the Turbo GT still deserves to be seen as a hot hatch hero in its own right.

The Turbo GT was a much more conventional example of a hot hatchback than the original R5 Turbo; the Garret-turbocharged engine was at the front, rather than in the middle, and produced enough power to concern a Golf GTI rather than a Porsche. Over 160,000 examples were produced; although, like many hot hatches from the period, there sadly aren’t many still left around today.

11: Williams-Renault FW 15 (1993)

One of the highlights of Renault’s Formula 1 history was the 1993 World Championship season. Behind the wheel of his innovative, Adrian Newey-designed Williams-Renault FW15, French Formula 1 legend Alain Prost won seven of the 16 rounds in 1993 to claim his final of four World Championship wins. The Anglo-French team also secured the 1993 Constructor’s Championship, rounding off a season to remember.

Renault’s role within the team was as engine supplier; and the engine in question was rather special. Specifically, the ‘RS5’ 3.5-litre V10 that Prost had at his disposable produced 750bhp while revving to 15,000 rpm, despite only having to move a car that weighed little more than 500kg.

12: Renault Clio Williams (1993)

However, the Renault-Williams partnership far exceeded the boundaries of just Formula 1. In 1993, Renault wanted to produce a variant of their latest hatchback, the Clio, that could be homolgated for FIA Group A and Group N rally regulations; with the help of the Williams Formula 1 team, they came up with the Clio Williams.

While a performance version of the Clio did already exist in 1993 with the 16V, the Williams took things a step further. It recieved a torquey new 2.0-litre engine that produced 150bhp, as well as new front and rear wings to reflect a wider track, new suspension and brakes, a set of gold Speedline 15” wheels, and a lick of either ‘Sport Blue’ or ‘Monaco Blue’ paint depending on the year it was built. They proved a great success, and, once again, are hugely desirable today.

13: Renault Espace F1 (1995)

In 1995, Renault decided to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the humble Espace in style. However, it just so happened that their idea of ‘style’ involved combining their resident people carrier with the 800bhp, 3.5-litre V10 from the Williams-Renault FW14-B.

What resulted was an Espace that could complete the 0-62mph (0-100km/h) sprint in 2.8 seconds, and hit 194mph (312km/h)…while still seating four. The 40-valve V10 was mid-mounted, and the comically-proportioned body was built around a bespoke carbon fibre chassis. Unsurprisingly, the Espace F1 never went into production…

14: Renaultsport Spider (1996)

Displaying a major departure from the type of car that Renault were known for building, the 1996 Renaultsport Spider had no ABS, no traction control, and some examples didn’t even have a windscreen. However, the lack of creature comforts made this exotic sports car very light, at just 790kg. It also marked the first appearance of the ‘Renaultsport’ name.

Unfortunately for the Spider, while it shocked at Geneva upon its unveiling, it was totally overshadowed by the Lotus Elise, which employed a similar lightweight philosophy but was significantly less expensive to buy. As such, only 1726 examples of the Spider were ever built.

15: Renaultsport Clio V6 (2001)

Undoubtedly the craziest Clio ever made, the Clio V6 was unveiled in 2001. Based around a similar set of principles as its distant ancestor, the R5 Turbo, the Clio V6 sacrificed its rear seats in favour of a mid-mounted engine. However, unlike the R5 Turbo, the Clio gained two additional cylinders in the process, bringing power up to 227bhp (rising again to 252bhp in the Phase 2).

A body kit with impossibly wide arches and two gaping air intakes on either side of the car was fitted, again mirroring the R5 Turbo; however, a short wheelbase combined with the power meant that the Clio V6 also gained a bit of a reputation when it came to the driving experience. But, who cares? Just look at it…

16: Renaultsport Clio 182 (2004)

However, while the V6 sat atop the Clio II range, it was almost twice as expensive as the other, less exotic performance variants that Renault also offered at the time; and, whisper it, these were actually the better cars to drive. Arguably, the best of the bunch was the 182, which arrived in 2004.

Whilst they left the factory in many different guises, equipped with a confusing array of options and ‘Cup’ packs, the energetic, free-revving, 182bhp 2.0-litre 16V engine remained a constant across all examples. Plus, despite being well-equipped, the 182 was light; the heaviest examples still only weighed a fraction over 1100kg. They are brilliant, exciting cars that still won’t break the bank to buy – get one while you can.

17: Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy (2005)

However, a year later, the 182 Trophy arrived. Comfortably in the conversation for best hot hatch of all time, the Trophy was essentially a regular 182 Cup, but with some small but significant changes.

Only available for the UK market (if you ignore the 50 examples that were sent to Switzerland), 500 Trophies were built. They received Recaro bucket seats and a set of Speedline Turini wheels, which were mounted in front of what made the Trophy really special - a pair of motorsport-derived Sachs remote reservoir dampers, the like of which had never before been seen on a hot hatch. These changes allowed the Trophy to punch well above its weight in the performance car world – and isn’t that exactly what a hot hatch is supposed to do?

18: Renault R25 (2005)

However, as it turned out, the Clio Trophy wasn’t the only success that Renault would enjoy in 2005, as the year would also mark the start of a brief but absolutely dominant period in Formula 1.

During the 2005 season, Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella drove the V10-powered Renault R25 to eight wins and 15 podiums, which was enough to secure the World Constructors’ Championship for the French team; Alonso also claimed his first World Driver’s Championship behind the wheel of his R25. Plus, the same two feats were also achieved the following season, too.

19: Renaultsport Megane R26R (2008)

Such dominant success in F1 couldn’t simply go unacknowledged, so a special version of the Renaultsport Megane was built to mark the occasion. The resulting (breathe in) RS Megane 230 F1 Team R26 (and out) was already on the ‘hot’ end of the hot hatch spectrum, but Renault decided that it could be pushed even further still.

This led to the creation of the extreme Megane R26R, which left the factory with a full roll cage, lightweight bucket seats and a carbon-fibre bonnet, as well as a set of graphics that would cause even a GT3 RS to blush. It became an instant Autocar favourite, and in 2008 we said: ‘As a genuine driver’s car, the Renault Megane R26R has few rivals, and not just in the world of hot hatchbacks but at any level, at any budget’ – high praise indeed.

20: Renaultsport Twizy F1 (2013)

Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, this is the Twizy F1 – another example of a crazy idea that actually made it past the thinking stage in Dieppe.

This time, the little electric Twizy was the subject at hand, which in production form made a modest 17bhp. However, this figure rose to a slightly alarming 97bhp in the F1, which was achieved through the use of a Formula 1-style KERS system. The F1 also received a high-downforce kit, Formula Renault slick tyres, and, as if nearly 100bhp in a 500kg car wasn’t scary enough already, a distinct lack of doors…

21: Alpine A110 (2017)

In November 2012, Renaultsport and Caterham announced a join-project to create a lightweight sports car, which would be sold under both Caterham and Alpine namesakes. Understandably, this made a lot of people very excited indeed.

Well, development began, but a few years in, Caterham unfortunately pulled out of the project for financial reasons – but regardless, Renault committed to finishing the car, and in 2017 the A110 was unveiled. That turned out to be a great decision on Renault’s part, as the 250bhp, 1098kg A110 turned out to be a bit of a revelation; even today, it’s still one of the best sports cars on sale.

22: Renaultsport Megane RS Trophy-R (2019)

The RS Trophy-R will, in all probability, turn out to be the final performance Megane powered by a combustion engine – and what a way to bow out. Based on the RS variant of the fourth generation Megane, the RS Trophy-R was the spiritual successor to the R26R from 2008.

Emphasising a lightweight philosophy, the Trophy-R came with an Akropovic titanium exhaust, lightweight glass, no rear seats, and the only gearbox option was the lighter six-speed manual. Plus, for £12,000, you could even option carbon fibre wheels. All of this weight-saving meant a Nürburgring lap time that was some 37 seconds faster than the R26R – but it also came at a cost, as a fully optioned Trophy-R would have set you back £72,000 back in 2019.

23: Alpine A290 (2024)

Renaultsport has since been replaced by Alpine as Renault’s sole performance branch; and in 2023, they announced that their first hot hatch was on the horizon. This alone created enough anticipation, but the kicker was that the Alpine hot hatch would be, for the first time for Renault, electric.

However, the car in question – the Alpine A290 – is now with us, and we needn’t have worried; it’s great, and an undoubted return to the hot hatch formula we know and love. Available with up to 217bhp, and crucially weighing under 1500kg, the A290 proves that ‘electric’ and ‘fun’ can absolutely belong in the same sentence.

24: Alpine A110 Ultime (2024)

However, while a new chapter at Alpine is opening with the A290, another is closing, as the much-loved A110’s days will soon be numbered –however, Alpine are giving the model a proper send-off with the Ultime.

Based on the A110 R, but with an extra 50bhp (for 345bhp in total), as well as a new high-downforce kit, Ohlins adjustable dampers, AP Racing brakes and an uprated gearbox, the Ultime will be the ultimate version of the A110, and is limited to just 110 units. There is a ‘but’ here, though – a fully-optioned Ultime will cost £276,000, or over three times more than the R upon which it’s based.

25: Renault 5 Turbo 3E (2025)

This is the latest member of the Renault performance catalogue to get everyone talking: the gloriously retro 5 Turbo 3E. Unveiled as a concept in late 2024 as a homage to the original R5 Turbo of 1980, the Turbo 3E is loosely based on the new Renault 5 E-tech, but with some substantial visual and mechanical changes.

The pumped-up, widened body is made of carbon fibre, and has been converted from five doors to three, creating a silhouette that closely mirrors the original. Similarly, the Turbo 3E will be rear-wheel-drive, and have an electric motor situated in each rear wheel – a setup good for 500bhp. Intended as Renault’s halo car for the future, the Turbo 3E promises to carry Renault’s performance car legacy on for many generations to come.

Used sports cars that should go up in value

Fri, 29 May 2026 17:47:06 +0100

Get a great car AND make some money too? It's possible - we drill down the finest

You should never buy a car in the hope that you’ll make money on it. The key is to buy what you like and if it rises in value to offset the running costs – well that’s just a bonus.

Values of most classic cars have shot up over the past few years, but there are some that the market has either overlooked, or have the potential to rise significantly further.

If you want to join us in the crystal ball gazing, tell us what you’d have added to the list – we’re sure there are more classics out there that deserve a higher profile. We include guide pricing, and we start with the cheapest and work our way up:

Alfa Romeo 75 (1987-1989)

The 75 was the last Alfa Romeo designed before Fiat adopted the brand and neutered it. The Verde V6 model turned the performance dial up a notch with a 3.0-litre that sounded better than Pavarotti. It was quick, and it offered a near-perfect weight distribution thanks to a transaxle.

Good ones are increasingly difficult to come by, and prices start at about £10,000.

Audi TT (mk1, 1998-2006)

Even non-enthusiasts gravitate towards the original Audi TT. The more affordable variants didn’t pack a lot of power but they didn’t need to. It was the kind of head-turning car Audi could sell on looks alone, especially when fitted with the optional (and now rare) baseball glove leather upholstery. Well-preserved ones without an intergalactic figure on the odometer start at £2000 in the UK.

BMW E24 6 Series (1976-1989)

Stylish and very usable, the original 6 Series came with a selection of six-cylinder engines. Brilliant to drive, superbly built and capable of swallowing vast distances, it’s only the 635 CSi editions that are especially desirable, with the ultra-rare M edition already worth a big premium. From £23,000.

Mazda RX-8 (2003-2012)

The Mazda RX-8 is the type of coupe enthusiasts lust after when it’s new and sell as soon as an even newer model comes out. However, Mazda threw a spanner in the depreciation machine by announcing it hasn’t even started developing its next rotary-engined, RX-badged coupe in 2012.

Executives admit it could be years before we see an RX-9, and there’s a good chance it will arrive with advanced driving aids and some form of electrification. The RX-8 has neither, so it’s the last of a breed. Prices start at £2300 in the UK, and prices are heading gently up.

Jaguar XK8 (1996-2006)

The all-aluminium XK that came in 2006 is a better car than the XK8 thanks to its superior cabin and a sharper driving experience. But it’s also still depreciating whereas the XK8 has hit rock bottom and is starting to climb again. The supercharged XKR is what everyone wants, especially in convertible form, but any car that’s in good condition with plenty of service history will prove a good buy. From £3,500.

BMW M3 E46 (2000-2006)

It’s a guaranteed cycle. M3 goes out of production, values go down to the point where the cars get ragged because they’re worthless, everybody realises few good cars are left, values increase. From £12,000, with prices heading north.

Mercedes-Benz SL R129 (1989-2002)

The R129 SL is another one of those cars that’s already started to climb and we could all see it coming because that’s exactly what its predecessors did. First the W113 (Pagoda) went ballistic then the R107 followed. Superb R129s have already doubled in value over the past five years – but they’ve still got further to go. Decent examples are from £6000.

Alfa Romeo Spider (1966-1982)

While its predecessor the Giulia and Giulietta have started to be worth plenty, the Spider that is now 54 years old is much more affordable. Duettos already fetch a premium but the later Kamm-tailed cars are much more attainable. Prices are from £12,500.

Porsche Boxster (986-series, 1996-2004)

The original Boxster is a slap in the face to anyone who claims there’s no such thing as an inexpensive Porsche. Loosely inspired by the 550 Spyder, the Boxster almost single-handedly saved the brand from bankruptcy by giving buyers a cheaper alternative to the 911. That’s still the case today, and it remains the most affordable way to own a Porsche with a flat-six engine.

Prices in the UK start at about £4,000. It’s worth paying extra to get a well-maintained car whose IMS bearing issue has been fixed by a professional. Don’t wait too long; a look at current 914 values suggest the Boxster won’t stay cheap forever.

BMW Z3M Roadster (1998-2002)

While the regular Z3 was a bit disappointing, by the time BMW had come up with an M edition things were a lot more appealing. The suspension was overhauled, an E36 M3 3.2-litre straight-six engine was slotted into the nose and the bodywork looked a lot more purposeful. Low production volumes have ensured this is a car that’s already on the rise. From £16,000.

Jaguar XJS (1975-1996)

The XJS was never meant to replace the E-Type, but a lot of people didn’t get that; comparisons were made and the XJS was always going to come second best. Now that the XJS’s 50th birthday is nearly upon us the market has latched on to the fact that actually this is a very desirable grand tourer, in coupé or convertible form with straight-six or V12 power. Decent ones can be found from £8000, and values are heading up.

Honda/Acura Integra Type R (1996-2000)

Many reckon the DC2 Integra Type R to be the finest-handling front-wheel drive car ever made. Fitted with a 1.8-litre VTEC engine that’ll rev to almost 9000rpm, the Integra weighed just 1080kg thanks to being put on a strict diet. Few good cars are left as most have been abused and/or modified, but there are superb examples waiting to be found... From £10,000.

Porsche 968 (1992-1995)

While the 968’s low spot might not be as low as some of its rivals, it appears to have hit it and values are starting to climb – gradually. At some point that rate of increase is likely to increase though, which is why we’d suggest you get ahead of the curve. The Club Sport is the obvious one to go for – but any unmolested 968 is worth a look. Prices from £15,000.

Honda S2000 (1999-2009)

Honda didn’t hold back when it developed a two-seater VTEC-powered roadster to mark its 50th birthday. It was so thorough with the S2000’s development that the car wasn’t ready in time and it was unveiled a year late – which only made it all the more worth waiting for. With 237bhp it’ll do 150mph and 0-60mph in just 6.1 seconds – but too many have been crashed or badly modified. Respectable examples from £8,500.

Lotus Elan M100 (1989-1994)

It took a long time for the original Elan’s values to catch up with what it was really worth, and that was a landmark car. In some ways this front-wheel drive edition is an automotive high point too, and while it’ll never reach the dizzy heights of the sixties model, we reckon the Elan M100 is a safe long-term bet. From £6000.

Mercedes-Benz SLK32 AMG (2001-2004)

Mercedes built well over 300,000 examples of the original SLK, but only a few of the 354bhp supercharged V6 AMG model were made. As the halo model this is the variation on the theme that’ll become sought after. From £7700.

Ford F-150 SVT Lightning (1999-2001)

While most pickup trucks rely on powerful engines to tow or haul, the Ford SVT Lightning summoned its generous displacement to go fast. Starting with an F-150, Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) made suspension tweaks to improve handling and dropped a supercharged, 354bhp 5.4-litre V8 in the engine bay. The second-generation Lightning instantly became the Mustang of the truck segment.

Production stopped in 2004. The F-150 Raptor occupies its spot in the Ford lineup today, but it’s a completely different beast that puts an emphasis on off-roading rather than drag racing. The Lightning already has a cult following in America, maybe the UK is next; from £22,000, and extreme rarity should help preserve and grow values.

Datsun 240Z (1969-1974)

For a car that first appeared almost half a century ago you’d think the 240Z might be worth more than it is. After all, this is the car that (for most people) launched the Z-car revolution, yet values remain resolutely affordable. Too many Zs are tatty or modified but if you encounter a good, original and rust-free car snap it up; from £25,000, with prices heading firmly up.

Triumph Stag (1970-1977)

Nicknamed the Snag in period and saddled with an appalling reputation for unreliability, fewer than 26,000 Stags were built during a seven-year production run. Glitches can now be ironed out and for the the price of a city car you could have a V8-powered four-seater convertible that’s dependable and we feel sure is bound to increase in value. From £13,000 for a decent one.

Mazda RX-7 Mk3 (1992-2002)

The first two generations of RX-7 were nice enough, but for the third take Mazda got serious with a 252bhp twin-turbo model that could do 0-60mph in 5.4 seconds on its way to a 153mph top speed. As good to drive as it is to look at, few unmolested RX-7s remain, but if you can find one snap it up, as the market is heading up. Prices from £22,000.

BMW 8 Series (1990-1999)

Until recently the E31 8-Series was largely forgotten, but it’s starting to get more coverage. That’s partly down to BMW launching a new 8 Series; suddenly the stylish 90s coupé is back in the limelight. Madly expensive when new, values have already started to climb but we reckon there’s still a fair way to go. From £14,000.

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG (W211, 2007-2009)

A naturally aspirated 514bhp V8 made the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG one of the quickest executive sedans in the world, and a luxurious interior made it a delightful place to travel in. Buyers got a lot of car for the money.

Today, a W211-generation E63 sets you back roughly £11,500 in the UK. The biggest hurdle is finding one that’s been properly maintained rather than refitted into a contender for Fast and Furious 17.

Dodge Ram SRT-10 (2004-2006)

Dodge executives muttered “anything you can do, we can do better” when they saw Ford’s F-150 Lightning. It took them a few years, but they shoehorned an 8.3-litre V10 taken from the Viper under the hood of a 1500 pickup truck. Transmission options included a six-speed manual and a four-speed automatic. Engineers made numerous suspension modifications to keep the 10-cylinder’s 500bhp output in check.

The mechanical upgrades were accompanied by a model-specific body kit, including a spoiler which rendered the pickup box all but useless, and diehard Viper fans could order racing stripes. Dodge euthanized the Viper earlier this year, so we’re unlikely to see another V10-powered Ram anytime soon. UK prices start around £26,000.

Chevrolet Corvette (C5, 1996-2004)

Every Chevrolet Corvette goes through a phase where it becomes the sports car for those who can’t afford one. That’s where the C5-generation ‘Vette stands right now. It’s good news for enthusiasts on a tight budget because the C5 blends performance with daily drivability and a surprising amount of tech. Notably, it was offered with a head-up display and variable-assist steering.

Prices could drop even more in the coming years, but sooner or later the C5 will fetch big bucks at big-name auctions. Never formally sold in Britain, UK prices for unofficial imports start around £15,000.

Porsche 911 (996-series, 1997-2005)

With a new platform and a water-cooled flat-six, the 996-series Porsche 911 marked a new beginning for the emblematic rear-engined sports car. Brand purists weren’t on board; they decried the styling and longed for the old air-cooled six. The ugly duckling reputation still sticks with the 996 as it enters the collector car market, and the model’s expensive appetite for IMS bearings doesn’t help its popularity.

Here’s what naysayers forget: it’s still a 911. It’s better to drive than many sports cars built in the same era, it simply puts a different spin on the original car’s character. 996 values are heading north. Prices start at £13,000 range for a clean, rear-wheel drive example. Buy one before the self-proclaimed purists realise they can no longer afford an air-cooled model.

Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 (1989-1994)

The Skyline brand goes all the way back to 1955 but it wasn’t until the GT-R R32 of 1989 that things got serious. This was the first mega-tech Skyline; the four-wheel drive system featured sensors galore that sampled 100 times each second, there was four-wheel steering and a twin-turbo 2.6-litre twin-cam straight-six rated at 276bhp – but which can be tuned to give over 1000bhp. Most are modified but that’s fine – if it’s done well and tastefully. From £44,000, and heading up.

DeLorean DMC-12 (1981-1982)

It was a sales disaster, the build quality was dubious and it wasn’t that great to drive. But sales volumes were low and the DeLorean’s leading role in the Back to the Future franchise ensures it remains in the public eye and is perceived as desirable – and hype is all you need for values to just keep climbing - just ask Bitcoin speculators. And at least with this you get to show it off and drive it. From £35,000, with values firming.

Lotus Esprit (1987-2001)

Examples of the original Giugiaro-designed Esprit have started to be collected and values reflect that. The later Peter Stevens-designed models haven’t taken off in the same way yet, although values have started to harden. So if you’ve fancied an Esprit V8 for a while we’d suggest you buy soon, before they’re out of reach. From £33,000.

Lotus Elise S2 (2001 on)

Prices for the original Lotus Elan have climbed sharply and the original Elise (1996-2001) has started to go the same way. But the second-generation Elise hasn’t proved as sought after – yet. Offering all of the qualities of the Series 1 but with greater usability thanks to a slightly bigger bodyshell, the later Elise will surely be a collector’s item in years to come. From £18,000.

Aston Martin DB7 (1993-2003)

It was the car that saved Aston Martin and with more than 7000 built it’s a car that’s currently a lot more attainable than you might think. The most collectible will always be the run-out GT edition (pictured) with its 435bhp V12 mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. Lowlier DB7s are from £15,000.

Dodge Viper SRT-10 (2003-2006)

The Dodge Viper returned for a third generation in 2003. Its styling evolved according to the design trends of the early 2000s, but it still looked like a member of the Viper family. It still sounded like one, too. The third-generation snake used an 8.3-litre V10 tuned to produce a minimum of 500bhp.

The handful of privately imported into the UK sometimes trade hands in the £65,000 range. Its entry into the world of high-profile, high-dollar classic cars seems secure because Dodge ended Viper production once and for all in 2017.

Jensen Interceptor (1966-1976)

A British-built grand tourer with Italian styling and American V8 power sounds like a world beater, right? Yet the Interceptor has been worth peanuts for decades and only now are prices starting to increase. But they’ve still got a long way to go before the Jensen is correctly valued. Prices are from £50,000.

Lancia Delta HF Integrale (1987-1994)

Lancia won the World Rally Championship six years in a row thanks to the Integrale, so just like the Audi Quattro that pre-dated it, classic and collectible status were guaranteed. The later (Evo) models are by far the most collectible but earlier editions are much more affordable. From £29,995.

Citroen SM (1970-1975)

Okay, so this one is a bit of a wild card, but there are worse ways of spending money. Combine Citroen hydro-pneumatic suspension with a Maserati V6, way-out styling and limited build numbers and you’ve got a sure-fire recipe for collectability. Decent ones are avilable from £42,000.

Chevrolet SS (2014-2017)

Much more than a BMW M5 for boot-wearing Texans, the SS was Chevrolet’s first V8-powered, rear-wheel drive saloon since the 1990s. It was an attempt at putting the extra production capacity at Holden’s Australian factory to good use while giving American muscle car fans a four-door option.

Holden built just under 13,000 examples of the SS, so finding a good one is going to get tough in a few years’ time. It’s likely Chevrolet’s last rear-drive V8 saloon, at least in the foreseeable future, since Holden’s factory closed down in 2017. It was never sold in the UK but there are the odd imports around, though it’s related to the Vauxhall VXR8 GTS, which cost from £28,000.

Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat (2015-)

Drive a Dodge Challenger in the US and people will stop jogging, mowing, driving, or eating to ask if it’s a Hellcat. This 700bhp monster has already gone down in popular culture as one of the most extraordinary muscle cars ever built. It’s a niche model by definition, and an excellent one at that, so expect it to become sought-after in a couple of decades. There are a few in the UK from £51,500.

Dodge Viper RT/10 (1992-1995)

The Viper left racing fans speechless when it broke cover during the 1991 Indianapolis 500 with Carroll Shelby behind the wheel. Presented as a modern-day Cobra, it received a 395bhp V10 engine designed by Lamborghini, which Chrysler owned at the time. It became the group’s halo model, and the hero car of the American auto industry. The Viper made the Chevrolet Corvette look soft.

Extremely rare on British roads, prices start around £52,000 and are on the up.

Honda NSX (1990-1997)

Now there’s an all-new NSX the original is being noticed a lot more. The world’s first everyday supercar, the Honda’s aluminium bodyshell guaranteed lightness, its high-revving V6 offered performance and the Honda badge represented absolute reliability. But sales were tiny; now the NSX is becoming highly prized and values heading one way only. Prices from £75,000.

Reliant Scimitar GTE (1968-1975)

One of the most practical sporting classics ever made, the GTE features a Ford V6 (either 3.0-litre or 2.8), tough plastic bodywork and it handles well, yet values have started to climb only recently, and even then, not by that much. Prices from £7000 in the UK.

Alpine GTA & A610 (1984-1995)

Before Renault's Alpine closed down in 1995 it produced some cracking sports cars, but most have yet to start fetching serious money. While the A110 and A310 have become very collectible, the GTA and A610 that came later are still under-valued. With the brand now returned with the excellent A110, prices are very much on the up, from £10,995 in the UK.

TVR Griffith (1991-2002)

With a new Griffith on the way it’s sure to increase interest in the 1990s edition, which has already seen a steady rise in prices in recent years. Values are dictated by mileage, spec and condition and these cars are rarer than you might think, so be prepared to search to find a car worth keeping. Griffiths are to be had from £16,500 in the UK.

Fiat Coupe (1993-2000)

We doubt that mint examples of the Fiat Coupé will ever be worth a fortune, but the chances are that they will go up from where they are now, bearing in mind that’s on the floor. With a 155mph top speed the 20v Turbo edition was the world’s fastest front-wheel drive car when it was new – now you can buy one for buttons. A decent Turbo can be had for £4200 in the UK.

MG RV8 (1993-1995)

With just under 2,000 examples built, a luxurious interior, classic MG looks and a Rover V8 under the bonnet, there’s plenty to love about the RV8. When you consider that you can easily spend the same sort of money on a MGB V8 roadster conversion as on a RV8, it’s easy to see why the latter should be more highly valued. UK examples are to be had from £20,000, and it doesn't look like they're going lower.

Ford Racing Puma (2000-2001)

Fast Ford prices have gone berserk in the UK in recent years but there is one that remains eminently affordable – the Ford Racing Puma. With just 500 made – by Tickford no less – exclusivity is guaranteed. It’s not all that quick and the ride is rock-hard, but it looks fabulous and it’s a fast Ford, so surely it’s a dead cert for an investment? From £10,000 in the UK.

Vauxhall VX220 (2000-2005)

Built by Lotus on the same production line as the Elise, the VX220 is far rarer and in Turbo form it’s a complete animal with its 197bhp four-cylinder engine. The ultimate is the run-out VXR220 but just 65 of those were made, so be prepared to wait for one of those. Values for all models are already on the up. Prices from £14,000 in the UK, with Turbos from £15,000.

Sub-£15k Fiat Panda and Citroen 2CV EVs "95%" certain for UK

Fri, 29 May 2026 13:13:44 +0100

Fiat will channel spirit of original 1980s Panda for new budget city EV

Retro runarounds coming in 2028 are highly likely for RHD; Peugeot and Vauxhall versions could follow

Stellantis could expand its line-up of sub-£15,000 affordable electric city cars beyond the forthcoming Citroën 2CV and Fiat Panda revivals – and the firm’s European chief is “95%” certain they will be offered in the UK with right-hand drive.

The industry powerhouse is developing a new 'E-car' platform for a line of native-electric city cars that can be built to the EU's planned new M1E class for sub-4.2m-long, EU-built EVs.

The first two confirmed models, the 2CV and Panda, will both be built in Stellantis’s Pomigliano plant in Italy from 2028 onwards.

Emanuele Cappellano, Stellantis’s European chief, said that to meet the planned target price of €15,000 (£13,000) “we need to be focused on developing a platform that is native BEV, and we need to do that with with scale, and we need to do that with a supplier base that is supportive enough to reach a target cost that allows us to reach our price”.

Asked by Autocar if that meant more of Stellantis’s brands – which also include Peugeot and Vauxhall – could offer their own E-cars, Cappellano said: “Fiat for sure, Citroën for sure, other brands potentially yes.

"We want to start from the Pomigliano plant with at least two vehicles but there are several options under study in terms of [other] brands and production sites. We start with at least two models, the rest we discuss step by step.”

Cappellano said that Stellantis was still looking for firms to partner on developing the E-car platform with, saying: “We are working on developing this platform with or without collaboration, trying to leverage the expertise we've matured so far, also in partnering with other Chinese OEMs. For example, the time to market is something we are really interested to improve in this cycle of plan, along with the batteries and drive motor technology.”

The EU’s M1E rules will reward firms that manufacture them with ‘super credits’ that count will help them meet their EU fleet emissions targets, but there's no word yet on whether the UK government would give firms selling such cars any extra support in meeting their zero-emission vehicle mandate targets.

That raises questions of the value of manufacturers offering them in the UK, especially with the extra investment that would be required to convert them for right-hand drive.

The new Renault Twingo will arrive late in RHD form, due to delays in signing off the extra investment, while some small city cars have previously not been offered in the UK at all.

Asked if Stellantis would offer its E-cars in RHD, Cappellano told Autocar “I don’t know” but said he was “95%” certain that it would.

He added: “You know how relevant the BEV market is in the UK, and it's very important for us to stay there and be present.”

Britain's next WRC legend? How 23-year-old Ioan Lloyd will shake up rally world

Fri, 29 May 2026 07:00:00 +0100

UK's latest stage star is preparing to take Vauxhall back to the top as championship kicks off today

"It was always supposed to be a hobby. I started doing a few events to learn car control, basically."

There's a charming modesty about Britain's latest rally hopeful, 23-year-old Ioan Lloyd. Rallying courses through his veins - small wonder for a young lad growing up in Llandysul, west Wales - but it began as a passion above all else.

"My dad was a rally driver," says Lloyd. "He got into navigating initially. Then he started driving in the early '90s. So I think it was always in my blood. I was never going to play football!" Young Ioan couldn't be kept away from the stages or service areas. "I was always grabbing the spanners and trying to help out where I could," he says. "Any time I got back from school and he was testing the car, I was first to jump in. I wanted to go to every single rally, even if Dad wasn't doing it. Whatever the weather, I just grabbed a coat and got out there in the wellies."

A progression from the side of the stages was inevitable. Ioan began competition aged 14 in the F1000 Junior Rally Championship. Capped at 1000cc, he was driving on airfields in a Nissan Micra, Citroën C1 and Peugeot 107. "When I turned 17, I passed my driving test on a Friday and did my first senior rally in a Mk2 Ford Escort the next day," he says. A season at Welsh national level in a Peugeot 208 followed, and Lloyd won his class.

Winning the Stellantis Rally Cup Ire & UK in 2024 promoted him to the Junior European Rally Championship for the next season, where he finished runner-up to good pal Calle Carlberg. Stability breeds success, and Lloyd has been with co-driver Sion Williams for more than five years. "He's also a young Welshman. We've built a great relationship together and worked well from day one. Once you click with a co-driver, you try to stay with them. We have a lot of fun," says Lloyd.

He's an avid hot hatch driver on the road and favours left-hand-drive cars to keep his road positioning sharp in competition. This is clearly a young man with more than a glint of ambition in his eye. So what comes next? "The top is where we all want to end up," he says, alluding to the WRC. "It's a long road to that and I think you just have to enjoy the experience and grab your opportunities with both hands. In recent years, the plan has come together really well. We've conquered each challenge, enabling us to take a natural progression through the sport."

The pair's success made them blip loudly on Vauxhall's radar for its works ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup campaign this year. It's a big deal, because it returns the griffin badge to motorsport officially after a decent hiatus. "Ioan is a very talented young driver - professional, focused and calm," says Opel-Vauxhall Motorsport head Jörg Schrott. "I am sure he will be fighting for the top places in 2026."

Seven rounds across Europe mean it's now Gareth Lloyd's turn to follow his son everywhere. "My mum and dad are really supportive, and it means they get to see the world as well, which is never a bad thing," says Ioan, grinning. "Dad's got 40 years of rallying experience. You can't buy that. I'm really lucky to have him by my side."

Other idols befit a driver of Ioan's generation, Sébastien Loeb and Colin McRae chief among them. "The way Colin could set a car up, being so flamboyant while also putting in the stage times. He's one of the best there's been," says Lloyd. That doesn't mean he will attempt to emulate McRae's technique, though. "Try that and you probably won't be fast - or it'll end up in a mess," he says. "Everybody's got their own unique driving style, which is the best thing about rallying. I'd say mine's quite smooth."

Lloyd wears his bobble hat proudly, so if he could have a go in any rally car, what would he pick? "A [Peugeot] 306 Maxi or [a Vauxhall] Astra F2. That whole era of Kit Cars looks class. I love playing back old Duke rally videos of Mark Higgins and all those guys. It's awesome to watch." Clearly, old hobbies die hard.

What he'll be driving

The electric Mokka GSE Rally that Lloyd is driving in 2026 shares much with its roadgoing namesake and has twice the power of the Corsa Rally Electric that it replaces. It's loud, synthesised sound divides opinion in a closed paddock, although it ought to clear the stages as it approaches.

"The spectators have got to be excited," says Lloyd. "People are going to be surprised with the speed, there's no doubt. It will probably raise a few eyebrows."

Lloyd takes me for a quick blast around an improvised Tarmac autotest course. These are among his very first miles in the car, but he's already having a blast, yanking the hydraulic handbrake to pivot us swiftly around each cone before demonstrating the differential's ability to hook up much of the Mokka's 276bhp on exit.

He says: "It's got a lot of power, but its delivery is quite smooth, albeit instant, and you can manage it very well. And there's a lot of feedback from the rear of the car. It doesn't bite you when it breaks away. It's quite a nice progressive feeling. I can't wait to get it on a proper rally stage."

Where to catch him

The 2026 ADAC Opel GSE Rally Cup looks very road-trippable from the UK if you want to cheer Lloyd on. Don't forget your wellies...

29-30 May ELE Rally, Eindhoven, Netherlands

13-14 Jun Rallye Vosges Grand-Est, Gérardmer, France

17-18 Jul Rallye Weiz, Austria

14-15 Aug ADAC Saarland-Pfalz Rallye, St Wendel, Germany

25-26 Sep ADAC Rallye Stemweder Berg, Lübbecke, Germany

17-18 Oct Rallye Sanremo, Italy

28-29 Nov Rallye Spa, Belgium

Exclusive: AC Cars begins new era with £400k Cobra Coupe supercar

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:01:00 +0100

Sussex-based sports car firm eyes 1000-plus cars per year as it launches new V8 flagship

The AC Cobra Coupé is a 799bhp V8-powered sports car that will turn the British firm into a global brand, according to chairman Alan Lubinsky.

The new £399,000 two-seater will enter production next year and Autocar has been given an exclusive first look at the car ahead of its official unveiling on 29 May.

The Cobra Coupé is essentially a closed-roof variant of the 2024 Cobra Roadster, with which it shares 75% of its parts. It employs the same engine: a Ford-sourced 5.0-litre V8 that can be had in 450bhp naturally aspirated form or with a supercharger that boosts output to 720bhp. A 799bhp Clubsport Edition tops the line-up and is limited to 99 units.

Power is sent to the rear wheels via either a Tremec six-speed manual or a 10-speed automatic gearbox. There is a limited-slip differential for the naturally aspirated version and a Torsen differential for other variants. Suspension on all models is double wishbones all round.

The car sits on an aluminium chassis and has a fully carbonfibre body. Both are built in-house, with the body coming from Sussex-based Green Tech Automotive, which AC recently bought in order to keep production and material costs down.

AC claims that all of the bodywork behind the front wings is bespoke to the Coupé, which was inspired by the one-off fixed-head AC Cobra A98 that was created for the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The car’s interior mirrors that of the Roadster, with a cluster of analogue dials alongside a small digital touchscreen and a three-spoke steering wheel.

At 1.98m wide, the Coupé is broader than previous AC models. Its extra width is the result of conforming to regulations that will allow it to be sold as a road car in different regions around the world. It could have been made smaller but that would have limited it to track-only use in most markets, engineering chief Jon Peeke-Vout (middle, below) told Autocar.

An alternative option would have been to replace the V8 with a smaller engine, “but that’s not us”, said Peeke-Vout.

Despite the car’s more expansive size, he said, you can “see the heritage and where it has come” from, adding “there is no mistake that it is an AC Cobra”.

The car shown in these pictures is still a prototype and AC is targeting a weight of “under 1600kg” in the Coupé’s heaviest, supercharged state, said Peeke-Vout. The Roadster weighs up to 1500kg.

Volume ambitions

Lubinsky described the Coupé as the 125-year-old firm’s first “volume” model. The plan, he told Autocar, is to use it as a catalyst to take AC from around 100 hand-built cars a year currently to more than 1000. “This is the most exciting time for AC in its history,” he said.

The Coupé has been earmarked for this task because fixed-head models have greater appeal than convertibles in markets such as the US and the Middle East. The US, where the car will be called the GT Coupé due to licensing issues, accounts for around half of AC’s sales.

To achieve the planned increase in production, AC will open a new plant in the UK, although details of the facility have yet to be outlined.

Currently, cars are 75%-finished at AC’s German production plant before being sent to the UK for completion. For the new plant, the plan is for everything bar the chassis to be produced there.

Both the Coupé and the Roadster will be made at the new site, with the Coupé comprising the bulk of the builds. Production of the fixed-roof Cobra is slated to begin next year once current orders of the Roadster have been fulfilled. Deliveries will start in 2028.

After those cars, AC will launch more models – and, like the Cobra, they will come from AC’s back catalogue.

Peeke-Vout said: “The platform for the Roadster and Coupé lends itself to some of the other models that we could create again.”

Speaking about his ambition for the brand at the start of the next decade, CEO David Conza told Autocar: “There is a small line between a boutique like Chapelle and all the mainstream shops, like H&M, and I really wantto be between them.”

Classics

While the new models will be AC’s core business, its Classic range – made up of the Cobra Mk4 and incoming Ace – will continue and be used as a brand builder. “This is nice to do and it’s important we do it well, but it’s not going to keep the lights on,” said Peeke-Vout.

Both models are built to original specifications, having been reverse engineered, but they sit on modern aluminium chassis and feature modern touches. For example, the Cobra Mk4 will soon be available with a one-piece carbonfibre shell, created to eliminate shutlines while also keeping weight down and produced in-house.

All cars are built to order in Sussex – and that will continue even after the new plant opens – and they can be had with a vast array of bespoke elements.

Asked how the brand could expand its Classic line-up, Lubinsky said more models are being planned. “From the Ace could come something like the 1950s Aceca again,” he said, “because of our skills of [being able to mould] the carbonfibre body for it. And from there it will spawn other relatives.”

Lubinsky also hinted that an EV powertrain could be made available for each car. Currently, just the Ace is offered with that option and gets a 300bhp motor, 72kWh battery and around 200 miles of range. However, future cars will be more advanced, said Lubinsky: “The technology from that car is a little bit old now, because we did it about 18 months ago. We’ve got far better technology now, so we will update that.”