Lotus has certainly had its ups & downs over the years. Started and run by the legendary Colin Chapman, Lotus has always done its own thing – not always successfully, it has to be said. But the last few years has been something of a renaissance for Lotus, with the extremely able and agile Elise […]
Rolls Royce bucks the downturn
All we seem to have written about recently is the doom and gloom in the car industry. Bail-outs begged for, production shut-downs, low sales and lay-offs. But one manufacturer seems to be defying the odds, and has just posted record sales figures for the year. Rolls Royce sales, in the year to the end of […]
Euro NCAP gets tough on whiplash
As we reported a few days ago, the Renault Megane succeeded in achieving the joint highest ever score in the Euro NCAP tests. But as we noted then, this was the last bunch of NCAP tests under the existing regulations, and all changes from the New Year. As an introduction to the new tests, NCAP […]
VW Touareg gets new engines and new edition
All the big 4x4s are struggling as people perceive them as ‘Devil Cars’ after the recent explosion in fuel prices around the world. And sadly, that sentiment seems to have stuck around, even though oil is now at a price last seen years ago. There’s nought so fickle as folk. So big SUV makers have […]
Grab a ‘VAT Free’ Skoda Octavia
I think we’re going to have to have a ‘Sign of the Times’ category soon – so many pieces refer to the current economic mess. In yet another ‘Sign of the times’ Skoda has announced that they are now offering ‘VAT Free Octavias’ until the end of the year. No, this is not a tie-up […]
German car makers are dropping big engines
It’s the trend at the moment, and one that won’t go down very well with our American cousins, who are fond of saying that ‘There ain’t no substitute for cubic inches’, as the three big luxury German Car Companies – Audi BMW and Mercedes – are planning to move away from their big ‘V’ engines. […]
Audi TT RS to launch at Geneva
Audi has really brought the new TT a country mile from the original, cutesy, Audi TT, beloved by hairdressers the length and breadth of the country. And now the news that all Audi TT fans have been waiting for. The super-hot version of the TT – The Audi TT-RS – is to launch at Geneva […]
Fiat Panda Cross wins top 4×4 Award
The Fiat Panda Cross, that mirculous little go-anywhere 4×4, which only came to the UK a few months ago, has won the Top 4×4 Award from 4×4 and MPV Driver Magazine. Well done! Amazingly, the judges put the little Fiat at the top of the pile, praising its affordability and off-road ability, and highlighting the […]
2009 Mini Convertible Springs In
It’s been a bit of a ‘Mini-Fest’ this week, what with the Mini E in Berlin and the news that the Mini is the least depreciating car in the UK. And now we have the first official images of the new Mini Convertible, due to hit showrooms in Spring 2009. Based of course on the […]
Mini E Hits Europe
BMW has decided that as well as running a heap of Mini Es (Electric Vehicles – EV) in California, New York and New Jersey, it is going to do the same in Europe – supplying 50 Mini E to motorists in Berlin, as well as the 500 in the US. The Mini E is by […]