IT’S good to see a manufacturer cutting their cloth according to their cabriolet these days.
When others have taken the tin top route, there’s a definite tick in the ‘traditional’ box from Mercedes-Benz with smart fold down fabric roofs adorning their cabriolet models.
The latest to vie for your attention – and subsequent cash – is a rather fetching offering from the three pointed star stable in the shape of the C-Class Cabriolet.
ANYONE out there expecting the new Honda Civic to be much of the same is in for a surprise. Because it isn’t.
Somewhere along the line the decision has been taken to say ‘sayonara’ to the squat, compact shape of the last few variants, and give this 10th generation model a distinctive new look.
So they sat on it, forcing the body to take on a sleeker appearance, longer and with a lower profile yet still with swoops and curves in all the right places.
BEST looking SUV around? No contest really – it has to be the Range Rover Evoque.
It’s been a bit of a head turner since launch a few years back, and the enhancements on the latest versions just add to the package.
The end result is a classy looking machine that has proved to be the entry into Range Rover ownership for many, not that joining the club comes cheaply. The HSE Dynamic model sampled here sits in the pages of the brochure at £43,200 but it’s not put people off.
VAUXHALL really are going for the X factor with their latest models to hit the market.
Hot on the wheels of the all wheel drive Mokka X comes the Crossland X – more compact and bijoux, looking a bit like a fatter and pumped up Adam because it shares that floating roofline from the small hatchback.
But Crossland is pure SUV, albeit on the smaller end of the spectrum, easily picked out by its two tone paintwork and styling.
Check back soon for our views on Skoda’s first ever seven seater.
SUBARU’S Levorg GT is one of a kind – there’s just one version on sale here in the UK.
But it’s the spawn of a long line of Scooby estate cars, and charged with taking the brand into the 21st century as the successor to the highly useable Legacy, which isn’t a name you could run backwards.
But while Levorg reversed is Grovel, there’s nothing second class about this latest Subaru offering, which features a downsized turbocharged engine, a pretty decent cabin and the surefootedness that four wheel drive delivers.
MAZDA’S MX-5 has allofasudden taken on the persona of a bus – you don’t see one for ages, and then two come along in quick succession.
Following in the wheeltracks of the revised ‘regular’ soft top two seater, launched last year, comes the MX-5 RF.
It’s 28 years since the original MX-5 appeared, and it’s not changed much at all in that time, still basically the same car that ramped up the cult status tag back in 1989.
Little more than a handful of changes have been made to the smart and stylish two seater over the years. OK, it’s a little roomier, more comfortable and has far more kit these days, but basically it’s just been allowed to mature over the years.
Until now.
SPANDAU Ballet gave us Communication back in the heady 70s – and now another well known German name is giving it a new slant.
The accent in Volkswagen’s latest incarnation of the multi million selling Golf is very much on communication – ironically at a time when motorists are being urged to abandon our mobile phones on the move (which is a pretty stupid thing to do in any event) and concentrate fully on being the nut behind the wheel.
The 2017 Golf, with its new engines, new technology and revised styling – though it still looks very much like a Golf – is on average around £650 cheaper than the model it replaces.
THE name smacks a bit of American – we used to call them estate cars here – but Fiat’s extended version of its neat new Tipo offers plenty of space for your bucks. Or euros. Or pounds.
The Tipo Station Wagon gives you a choice between the hatchback and a lot more space and hence increased practicality.
It helps that it’s a neat looking piece of equipment from the outside, having a distinct touch of Italian style about its lines and not merely being a hatchback with a box welded onto the rear.
IF we were to indulge in a game of ‘Spot the Difference’ we could safely use the SEAT Leon as the subject matter.
I’ve looked long and hard, underneath and inside out, and bearing in mind the fact I’ve owned one for the past three years, I can’t for the life of me find too much has visibly changed with the Leon, 2017 version.
And why should it? No one ever attempted to reinvent the wheel, so when you’ve got a package that is to all intents and purposes one of the best medium hatches out there, you’d be a fool to invoke widespread changes just for the hell of it.