Archives

BONHAMS ASTON MARTIN AUCTION: DB5 resurrected after 30 years

HOW a beautiful car like this could be left to languish in a dusty barn, unloved and seemingly unwanted, is beyond me. 

But this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Coupe is set to have another day in the spotlight when it comes under the auctioneer’s gavel at the annual Bonhams auction at Aston Martin’s Heritage Showroom in Newport Pagnell this Saturday (May 18, 2013).

Continue reading

SMMT TEST DAY: Zoe to be the new Nicole?

RENAULT‘S latest electric offering, ZOE, is set to bring all the advantages of quietness, responsiveness and refinement to a bigger audience when it goes on sale in June – but is she the new ‘Nicole’?
The chic little city car took its UK bow at the SMMT’s annual test day for motoring writers at Millbrook, and proved a popular addition to the list of cars available to drive. In fact one scribe was so captivated he proved reluctant to bring it back for others to try out…..

HONDA CR-V: efficient proposition

IS it really as far back as 1995 that Diana gave ‘that’ interview to the Beeb’s Martin Bashir? And was it really that long ago that they started selling appliances with pre-wired plugs for the first time?

1995 was notable for some significant deaths – Fred Perry, ex-PM Harold Wilson, Ronnie Kray, Fred West (no real loss there, obviously) but also for one significant birth – Honda’s CR-V.

Continue reading

PORSCHE CAYENNE: maturing with age

PEOPLE like Porsches – of that there’s no doubt.

The German sports car manufacturer has just enjoyed the best year sales in its long history, with turnover up an impressive 25 per cent over 2011.

That means they shifted 143,096 cars – and not just sleek little 911s, Caymans and Boxsters either, as the big muscley Cayenne also does its bit for the company.

Continue reading

AUDI RS5 CABRIOLET: ultimate rag top?

THERE are times when I regret saying goodbye to our Audi A4 cabriolet – the other day was one of them.

Not that I would be in the market for the car that started twanging the old nostalgia strings. At £68,985, the RS5 cabriolet is definitely a car for the well heeled (and not just the well coiffeured four inch heeled) as well as the well walleted.

Continue reading

PEUGEOT 208 GTi: return of the pocket rocket

POSSIBLY picked a bad couple of days to go to north Wales to sample the delights of the latest Peugeot 208 GTi.

For so long the bastion of the speeding motorist hating constabulary, it was also, for our brief stay, home to rather a lot of senior police officers in what was Speed Awareness Week. So, you might agree, not a good time to go hooning around the neighbourhood in the latest incarnation of what was one of the very first and very best hot hatches.

Continue reading

WHITE VAN MAN: I like to keep it clean

A REPORT from Nissan has helped dispelled the myth that all white van drivers are a breed apart….

The official launch of the Nissan Van Report says they do actually care about how they drive, and it came as Nissan debuted their 100 per cent electric eNV200 at the CV Show in Birmingham. The report gives an insight into the modern day professional driver and shows that they’ve got more in common with other motorists than we might have thought.

Continue reading

SILVERSTONE CLASSIC: tribute to Jim Clark

SILVERSTONE’S three day Classic in July is to stage a special tribute to racing legend Jim Clark.

It’s 45 years since the fastest farmer in the world lost his life in a meaningless Formula 2 race at Hockenheim, but his memory lingers on, and those who appreciate the sublime skills he brought to the sport will be eager to pay their respects to the two times world champion at the Northants track, where he won the last of his five British Grand Prix wins in 1967.

Continue reading