Autocarの January 29, 2025 の目次

“I don’t believe our cars look quite as capable as they actually are” The Polestar 2 will not be succeeded by the recently confirmed Polestar 7 SUV but will instead get its own direct replacement towards the end of the decade. The news, confirmed to Autocar by new CEO Michael Lohscheller on his first official visit to the UK, dispels previous suggestions that the new Range Rover Evoque-sized 7 would slot into the line-up in place of the popular liftback. Instead, Lohscheller made it clear Polestar was building and would maintain a five-tier series-production model line-up for the future: the 2 (liftback), 3 (large SUV), 4 (large saloon), 5 (four-door performance coupé) and 7 (mid-sized SUV), alongside the 6 (ultralow-volume sports car). Lohscheller revealed that the 2’s replacement would be…

Smart’s sleek #6 flagship will beunveiled later this year as the brand’s quickest and most advanced model to date, packing reserves of more than 630bhp in its most potent form. The rakish four-door saloon will be positioned as a rival to the Tesla Model 3, a car it will have a similar footprint to. It has been designed with a focus on range so will feature the slipperiest body of any Smart model to date. Autocar has been told this will allow it to offer “well over 800km” (497 miles) of range in its most efficient form, although that figure is based on the generous Chinese CLTC test cycle. On the WLTP cycle used in Europe, it is expected to return a figure close to the Model 3 Long Range…

The BMW iX, the Munich firm’s tech-laden electric flagship, has received a major update with substantial power upgrades and an increase in efficiency that boosts its range to 435 miles. While the Audi Q8 E-tron and Volvo EX90 rival has received only a minor styling makeover, the changes under the skin are more significant. Product manager Marisa Hammersen said BMW has “worked hard to really optimise the efficiency in every area we could”. As an example of that, she cited the use of new headlights that require less energy when illuminated. The German marque has revamped the electric motors with an improved silicon-carbide inverter to reduce power losses, while retuning the drive system and working on the electronics to boost efficiency. There are also new drive modes, including settings that…

THE 2025 CONSUMER Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas flagged up how radical car interiors might become – and sooner rather than later. Continental showed its Emotional Cockpit concept, which combines high-tech electronics with displays framed by Swarovski crystal, a high-quality cut glass from Austrian firm Swarovski Mobility. A floating 12.3 TFT display beneath the centre of the dash is set beneath a transparent crystal surface and forms the control element for both driver and front passenger. The TFT technology has full-array local dimming technology (FALD), which controls the backlighting. FALD is used in LED TVs and divides the LED backlights into zones that can be dimmed in certain areas (hence ‘local’). LEDs in the brighter areas can be turned up and those in darker areas turned down to create…

Jaguar has sought to reassure potential customers that it is still business as usual, despite the brand now being on a hiatus from selling new cars in the UK. At the unveiling of its new brand identity in November last year, managing director Rawdon Glover confirmed Jaguar would effectively take a year off in its home market ahead of the arrival of its all-new electric luxury GT in summer 2026, adding that, as a result, its UK retail network would be “significantly reduced”. He didn’t contradict reports that the network may eventually number only around 20 dealerships – 60 fewer than just a few years ago – placed in “the right locations”. This new strategy has raised concerns about the firm’s commitment to support existing Jaguar owners. But a company…

FIRST DRIVE PORSCHE 911 GT3 Does the latest iteration of Stuttgart’s hardcore flagship live up to expectations? Matt Prior finds out at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo FEATURE THE LEGACY OF THE LEGACY A fond farewell to Subaru’s all-paw estate after 35 years in production INSIGHT MERC’S REINVENTION The firm’s tech boss tells us about the biggest change in its long history EVERY WEEK LIVING WITH A… VAUXHALL CORSA We reflect on our time with Britain’s favourite supermini USED GUIDE BMW M4 Why this fast coupé can be a great second-hand buy…

ALONGSIDE THE C4, Citroën has updated the largely identical C4 X. The saloon’s extra 140mm of rear end compared with the hatchback increases boot space to 510 litres, which compares well with other cars in the segment, but its long, shallow shape makes that space hard to utilise. You won’t have much joy moving large furniture. While it is effectively the same car as the C4, C4 X sales aren’t big in Western Europe, with the model instead positioned to push Citroën into more global markets. It has sold more than 30,000 examples in Turkey alone, for example. It offers the same range of powertrains as the updated C4, excepting the 128bhp petrol. The C4 X offers the same ICE powertrains as the C4, but here we’re testing the electric…

Supercars and hypercars excepted, few breeds of performance car have undergone more technical change over the past 10 years than the super-saloon. There is clearly something about precisely what these cars represent, the role they play, the prices they command and the importance they assume for their manufacturers that has ushered them down the express lane towards technical progression more quickly than, say, hot hatchbacks, sports cars or fast grand tourers. And it’s to the seventh-generation version of one of the founding super-saloons – the BMW M5 – that we now turn. Technical change already characterises this car’s journey through the decades. From the third-generation E39 version, you can count off the various manifestations as ‘the V8 one’, ‘the V10 one’, ‘the turbo one’, ‘the four-wheel-drive one’ – and now…

We may not be in the same league as the indigenous peoples of North America when talking about snow, or those of the Middle East about sand. But depending on which regional dialect you zoom in on, you may find as many as 30 synonyms for mud in the various tongues of the British Isles. Clag, clart, gunk, mire, ooze – call it what you will, it seems we are notorious global experts on it. And we’re looking at the full glorious spectrum of it today, in an old Rutland limestone quarry criss-crossed with tracks and paths. This is exactly the kind of place we need to be to settle a question posed by the arrival of the new, J250-generation Toyota Land Cruiser. Here and now, which is the best,…

TOYOTA FJ CRUISER Toyota was late to the party after the early-noughties wave of retro-futurism, but the FJ was worth the wait. It’s just as capable and dependable as the rest of the Land Cruiser family, and those looks (harking back to the FJ40) are utterly lovable. It was never sold here officially but imports are plentiful, starting at £15k. RANGE ROVER (P38A) This is the black sheep of the Range Rover family, with the shortest lifespan and a wellearned reputation for unreliability. They are tremendous when they do work, though, and their modern-classic status justify prices north of £10k. A sub-£1000 rotter could be an interesting candidate for restoration. DACIA DUSTER With prices starting at £1500, the Duster is so cheap that you won’t mind landing it in a…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this veteran might actually be the pick of Volvo’s growing, tech-first EV range “While efficiency may be a concern, performance is not” Much of the talk surrounding Volvo concerns its evolving model range, headlined by the addition of the electric EX30 crossover and EX90 flagship SUV. But the Swedish firm’s first production EV has also been transformed in recent years – to the point that it’s been rebranded as the EX40 to differentiate it from its petrol-powered XC40 sibling. The XC40 Recharge was launched in 2019, which is several generations ago in the fast-developing world of EV technology. That’s forced Volvo to make significant upgrades, although they can go only so far. For example, the infotainment in the EX40 remains an older generation…

MILEAGE 5989 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if our positive first impression of the hybrid supermini lasts in extended use It seems that no two hybrid powertrains are the same any more. There’s a real proliferation of ideas, and the Hybrid+ system that MG has introduced with its new 3 is one of the more interesting ones, having a gearbox of a kind unheard of since the 1990s and no fewer than four operating modes. One, it can run purely on its 192bhp electric motor, up to around 35mph – and it can do this for longer than many other ‘self-charging’ hybrids, because its battery is considerably larger than rivals’, at 1.8kWh, hence why it’s located between the rear wheels rather than under the passenger seat. Two, it can…

AN OWNER’S VIEW HANNAH BEST “I was lucky enough to get hold of one of the first Mk4 Jimnys back in 2019, having instantly fallen for its rugged, boxy look, and I haven’t looked back since. I love everything about it. It’s small but mighty enough to go anywhere, super-reliable and a proper head-turner. There were a few recalls, but Suzuki sorted things straight away, and I haven’t had to pay a fortune on servicing either. Overall, the Jimny is perfect for off-road terrain and city driving. Just don’t expect to fit the whole family in!” BUYER BEWARE… ■ ENGINE Any oil underneath the car or a burning oil smell could indicate a leak. Make sure to inspect the engine and feel that it runs smoothly on a test drive.…

“Swapping to new architecture, the next-generation Corsa is about 10% larger than today’s” Vauxhall’s nextgeneration Corsa Electric will land in 2026 with a bold new look, dramatically longer range and more upmarket billing. The new model is due to be one of the first cars to ride on parent company Stellantis’s new STLA Small platform – a replacement for the CMP architecture that underpins today’s car, as well as a host of technically related siblings from brands such as Peugeot and Jeep. Able to accommodate hybrid powertrains but designed primarily for EVs, this new skateboard architecture has been engineered to underpin cars that range from the A-segment to the C-segment, with a primary focus on Europe. Swapping to this new platform, the seventhgeneration Corsa is around 10% larger overall than…

Before the #6 arrives, the new #5 SUV will be the first Smart to be offered with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain in response to growing concerns about EV sales in some markets. The move, confirmed by Chinese-based Smart officials, is a stepchange for the Geelyand Mercedes-Benzowned company, which previously committed to selling new Smart models with electric power only. Asked if this set-up could come to Western markets, a Smart Europe spokesperson told Autocar the brand “cannot exclude any technological solution” as it battles with the “changing demands” of customers. Technical details of the PHEV powertrain destined for the #5 and #6 remain under wraps, but it is thought to be a variant of the system fitted to the Geely Galaxy Starship 7 EM-i and Lynk&Co 07 EM-P. This is…

AUDI HAS REVEALED the Q6 E-tron Off-Road concept as a hardcore, go-anywhere version of its latest electric SUV. Described as “Quattro redefined”, the bulked-up Q6 E-tron Sportback has been extensively modified for venturing into the wild, receiving a heavy visual makeover, a massive suspension lift and studded all-terrain tyres. Full technical details remain confidential, but Audi has confirmed the concept is fitted with ground clearanceboosting portal axles, traditionally used by only the most extreme 4x4s. There’s a slim chance of a production version, but the concept could preview a revival of Audi’s Allroad 4x4 sub-brand.…

GENESIS WILL BECOME an electric-only brand in the UK for the foreseeable future after the last combustion models in the market were scrapped. The petrol and diesel variants of the G70 Shooting Brake and GV70 SUV have joined the G70 saloon and G80 SUV in being pulled from the UK line-up. All four can now be bought from stock only. However, the brand has promised to “bolster” its line-up with new hybrid models “in the future”, without confirming an exact date. It is understood they won’t arrive this year so the Korean brand will sell only EVs in the UK for now. Its line-up for 2025 will include an updated Electrified G80, with extra range and an extended wheelbase, due in April; an updated Electrified GV70, also with more range,…

I’M GLUTEN-FREE What a refreshing change it was to read a review of the Mercedes-Benz E450d Estate (8 January) instead of the usual fare of faux SUVs that are little more than four-door bread vans with pumped-up suspension. My car is a BMW 335d M Sport Touring, and in more than 50 years of motoring it’s the best complete car I’ve ever owned. When cars like this are available, it beggars belief that people buy these bread vans. Even Autocar described the 335d as of towering ability, which is an accolade not due to any bread van. As your James Disdale said, we have all pondered our car wishlist with the lounge bar petrol/diesel heads, and for me it would be very simply putting BMW’s 4.4-litre V8 into a 3…

The GBS (that’s Great British Sports Cars) Zero is among a number of Seven-alike models whose existence Caterham has learned to tolerate during the past few decades. The first of those (the original unoriginal?) was a Westfield that looked so much like a Seven that Caterham litigated it into it having a slightly different appearance, and every Seven-but-not-a-Seven since has been a variation on the theme: familiar but somehow not at the same time, like seeing a mate who has been clean-shaven for 30 years suddenly appear with a beard. The Zero is GBS’s take on the minimal, two-seat, front-engined, rear-driven roadster. We haven’t driven one for more than a decade, and there will be a huge difference between that car and this ‘secondgeneration’ one. Indeed, GBS director Richard Hall…

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the new KGM Actyon as a sleeker version of the Torres SUV that arrived in the UK last year. There is some truth in that: the two are close in size and style and share a platform and a powertrain. But KGM bosses insist there has been plenty of work to differentiate the two and make the Actyon worthy of its own name – and of being the first model developed in Pyeongtaek since Ssangyong was bought by the KG conglomerate. The Actyon is a scant 35mm longer (at 4740mm), 20mm wider and 40mm taller than the Torres. Owing to that sloping roofline, it has a slightly smaller boot, although at 668 litres it’s still substantially bigger than that offered by the Kia…

The warmed-up, vRSbadged Octavia has been a stalwart of the ‘everyday performance’ landscape for more than two decades and during that time has been offered in several flavours, including diesel and, a little more surprisingly, plug-in hybrid. It was the Mk4, surfacing in 2020, that introduced electrification, and it’s the Mk4 that has now been facelifted – at the same time streamlining the model’s engine range, leaving only a turbo petrol. We have thus, in a sense, come full circle, only while in 2001 the Mk1 Octavia vRS used an Audi-designed 1.8-litre engine with 180bhp, its great-grandchild has a 2.0-litre unit from Volkswagen, rated at 261bhp. Apart from the 600bhp, factoryprepared machine that hit 228mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2001, in the process securing a land speed record…

MANOEUVRABILITY It’s a bit of a myth that off-roading is all about wide, open spaces. It’s as often done on green lanes, through forests and along river valleys. Agility and manoeuvrability are key where tight turns are unavoidable and there’s often something in your way. On a densely wooded, twisting track, every one of our three test cars was made to feel wide. None avoided the need to reverse entirely at least a couple of junctures in order to proceed. So the difference between good and bad here wasn’t huge. But predictably the relative shortness of the Defender’s wheelbase and its generous amount of steering angle gave it a clear advantage over the only averagely wieldy Land Cruiser, while the length of the Grenadier’s wheelbase, its shortage of steering angle…

LAND ROVER FREELANDER This late ’90s soft-roader melded tough-yet-cute looks with cheerful Rover engines and an affordable price. It was capable enough for light duty too, moonlighting in the G4 Challenge series – the continuation of the famed Camel Trophy. Rust has thinned the herd but nice early cars, from £3000, are nailed-on modern classics. SKODA OCTAVIA SCOUT This rufty-tufty version of one of our favourite family estates got a 31mm suspension lift, Haldex four-wheel drive and plenty of plastic body cladding. It’s more than enough to do the job on the kinds of muddy roads you will have to cross out in the country and doesn’t compromise its on-road manners. Nice ones will set you back about £10k. TOYOTA RAV4 (Mk1) A similar deal to the Freelander above but…

MILEAGE 11,576 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the definitive executive car is now electric, albeit in £100k guise Autocar’s time with this electric 5 Series estate is running out, but I’m still discovering things about it. That’s partly because it has a plethora of features, partly because its efficiency varies a lot. Given that I spent a lot of time last year in a Ford Ranger Raptor, whose petrol V6 returned 21-23mpg consistently regardless of how I treated it, gamifying what efficiency the i5 can return has been fun in a test car. It could be as an ownership proposition too, but there are times when that novelty might wear off. The other day, I drove from north Oxfordshire to south Hampshire to visit my folks, then did…

LEXUS RX Mileage 2254 Last seen 22.1.25 A flat tyre is always annoying, and in a £70,000 car it usually means more pain to come. So a persistent slow puncture in the RX gave me that sinking feeling, and sure enough the screw in the tyre was too near the sidewall to repair. A new 235/50 R21 Bridgestone Alenza for the F-Sport was £330 fitted – around twice what the entrylevel Premium Pack’s 235/60 R19 would set you back. AC VAUXHALL CORSA Mileage 10,094 Last seen 22.1.25 I’m not convinced this Ultimate Corsa looks different enough to lesser ones. Indeed, you can get the same wheels and the black roof with GS trim. It would be nice to have some more regal colour options, perhaps; the Emerald Green Metallic that…

Today, if you can’t stretch to a new Range Rover, the manufacturer offers consolation models in the form of the Sport, Velar and Evoque. Back in 1987, however, it offered just one: the Land Rover 90 County V8. Some consolation, you might say, when its luxuries extended only to tweed cloth and a leather-covered steering wheel, but for buyers more used to a Landie’s vinyl seats and plastic tiller, they were sufficient. In any case, the County’s chief appeal lay in its 3.5-litre V8 petrol engine. Here was a 90 with more grunt than its 2.5-litre turbo diesel four stablemate (187lb ft at 2500rpm versus 150lb ft at 1800rpm) and which could stay with the traffic and deliver you to the shops in relative comfort. Stephen Ludlow loves his, a…

BMW M340D xDRIVE TOURING 2021, 51,500 miles, £31,500 All-rounders don’t get much better than this 335bhp, 50mpg estate – and now that diesel 3 Series are no longer sold in the UK, there’s no better time to grab one. This one ownerexample has a full service history and a long MOT. VOLKSWAGEN UP 1.0 HIGH UP 2012, 18,000 miles, £5592 For those wanting a first car or an urban runaround, this oneowner Up is ideal. It’s barely run-in and is ULEZ-compliant, and has a full service history, a clean MOT and, being in rangetopping spec, luxuries including sat-nav and heated seats. JAGUAR F-TYPE V6 S COUPE 2016, 40,000 miles, £29,750 If you’re after a Jag, a used car is your only option – and this British Racing Green roadster is…

Stellantis is committed to preserving Vauxhall as a stand-alone brand for the UK, amid uncertainty over each of the group’s marques following the exit of CEO Carlos Tavares. Vauxhall is twinned with Opel, sharing its product line-up. But with the British brand only active in a single market, doubts have been raised over its viability. However, Opel-Vauxhall CEO Florian Huettl said it will continue to play an active role in car development. Asked how Stellantis can justify the existence of a marque for just one market in which its cars are no longer produced, Huettl said: “For Vauxhall, we value the history and heritage, and the role it plays in society. “It’s very important to understand that the cars are developed with the product planning teams from Opel and Vauxhall.…

THE DEPARTMENT FOR Transport (DfT) has blamed “decades of decline” under previous governments after MPs labelled England’s roads a “national embarrassment” in a scathing new report. Published by the Public Accounts Committee – a cross-party group of MPs who examine the value for money provided by government programmes – it found that the DfT is failing to take policy and the use of taxpayer funds “sufficiently seriously” when looking at the 183,000 miles of local roads across England. That equates to 98% of the total road network. It said “the state of England’s local roads is declining” yet “the DfT neither knows exactly how authorities spend its funding, as it is not ring-fenced, nor what it wants to achieve with it”. The report added that the DfT has insufficient knowledge…

THE FIRST UK examples of the facelifted Tesla Model Y will be priced from £60,990. Arriving in April, the revised crossover will be sold initially in Launch Series trim only, which features all-wheel drive and a longrange battery. It offers a 353-mile WLTP range and a 0-60mph time of 4.1sec. Regular long-range AWD models are expected later this year at a price above the current car’s £51,990. Performance and long-range RWD cars are in the works but an arrival date has not been set. For reference, the outgoing long-range RWD is the entry-level model and is priced from £46,990. There are no initial plans for a seven-seat version to return. Revealed earlier this month, the headline changes on the Model Y are new wraparound light bars at the front and…

MAZDA WILL LAUNCH the third generation of its CX-5 SUV next year. The current car, its best-seller in the UK, has sold more than 62,000 examples here since being launched in 2018. Now prototypes of its successor have been spotted testing on public roads in California. New headlights and grille suggest Mazda will bring the CX-5’s design closer to the larger new CX-60 and CX-80. In addition, the test cars appear to have shorter overhangs and a longer wheelbase than the current CX-5, suggesting a push to increase interior space.…

The Alpine A290 has gone on sale in the UK, with prices ranging from £33,500 to a lofty £38,500. That means the electric hot hatch costs £10,505 more than the cheapest version of the closely related Renault 5 and £4505 more than the top-rung variant. Standard kit for a basic GT-trim A290, which features a 52kWh battery and a 178bhp motor, includes a 10in infotainment touchscreen, heated seats and 19in alloy wheels. The range is topped by the limited-run Premiere launch edition, which at £38,500 includes a 215bhp motor. UK customer deliveries of the A290 will begin in April.…

“WE OFTEN DISCUSS as a design team what the EV3 would look like with the old Kia badge on it and the car just would not look the same.” Kia design director Karim Habib credits the firm’s new logo and accompanying updated branding as a major enabling factor in the recent success of the company, along with the cars themselves, of course. “Having a new badge at the same time as new technology [with EVs] and new design plays a huge role,” he says. “It’s a subconscious impact, the filter through which you see things. And the work done on brand perception also influences this. We as designers can then accentuate that shift.” This process is well under way. Having spent almost two decades dragging itself into the pack, Kia’s…

I felt more than a touch of sadness when I read your BMW Alpina B3 GT Touring road test, entitled “last of the last”, in which you urged readers to “buy one now” (15 January). The Alpina company’s demise at the end of 2025, when ownership of the brand will transfer to BMW, almost exactly matches my driving career. In 1964, while having my car serviced in Germany, I picked up a copy of ADAC magazine in which I read about an individual (the name of Herr Bovensiepen meant nothing to me then) whose privately entered BMW was beating the factory-prepared cars. I bought my first BMW, a 2002, direct from Munich in December 1969 and, apart from one break, stayed loyal to the marque until my sad experience with…

“It’s a car that can be summed up by one word: sensible” The funky-looking thirdgeneration C4 hatchback has been one of Citroën’s best-sellers in the UK since its arrival in 2021. It was a big departure in terms of design and quality from the car it replaced, and now, four years later, the model has been updated to bring it up to date with a host of new rivals in the bulging C-segment. Most of the work has been focused on giving the C4 a fresh look and updating its interior. Drawing inspiration from 2022’s Oli and 2024’s C5 Aircross concepts, the new nose is centred on Citroën’s updated logo (inspired by the original badge from 1919), which is flanked by new squared-off LEDs (replacing those distinctive Y-shaped headlights) and…

You will have read about the decline of the UK pick-up truck market, and lately about new BIK tax rules set to hasten its demise. Well, it isn’t declining in all quarters. The self-proclaimed ‘pickup professionals’ at Isuzu had their most successful year in 2024, selling more than 6600 D-Maxes – more, even, than they managed amid the ‘lifestyle’ pick-up boom of 2015. The Japanese company expects to be less exposed to the April exit of those who have been running a pick-up in order to pay less tax. Most people who run a D-Max, it claims, do so because they genuinely need its capabilities: to carry 1200kg of bulky stuff, tow big trailers, access places far from the road network. The D-Max also sells on its well-established reliability, we’re…

GREEN LANE HEROES FIAT PANDA 4x4 A suspension lift and four-wheel drive (by viscous coupling) turned Fiat’s city car into a surprisingly capable machine. Its dinky proportions, narrow wheels and superb interior visibility make it a great option for green-laning in particular. Two engines were offered: earlier cars got a 1.2-litre petrol unit with 60bhp and 75lb ft, whereas the later 4x4 Cross packed a 1.3-litre turbo diesel with 75bhp and 107lb ft. Neither is fast (the petrol dispatches the 0-62mph sprint in a full 20.0sec and the diesel cuts that by only 2.0sec), but the donkey’s extra grunt is useful for more serious mud-plugging. Watch out for rust and make sure everything specific to the 4x4 – especially the bumpers and the viscous coupling – is in working order.…

It was once estimated that the rise in popularity of SUVs had effectively undone all of the efficiency improvements made on internal combustion engines. As in, the International Energy Agency said we’d burnt as much fuel in the previous decade as if we’d all stayed driving hatchbacks and made no tech improvements. In 2023, some 60% of all cars sold in the UK were SUVs, up from 50% in 2021. There are two reasons for this. The first is that SUV is such a broad term that it now applies to a Ford Puma and a Tesla Model Y just as equally as it applies to a Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover Defender. This is daft because these cars don’t all do the same thing: some SUVs are proper four-wheeldrive…

MILEAGE 13,359 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Does being the basis for an ICE model compromise the G80 as an EV? It’s a common argument for why someone couldn’t live with an electric car: “Yes, I rarely do more than 60 miles at a time, but what if I need to drive 500 miles at a moment’s notice, at a time when there are queues at rapid chargers?” So I thought I would try just that. Over the Christmas holidays, I usually visit my parents in Belgium, which is only about 150 miles from my home in Kent. Not much of a test, then – but an urgent errand meant I went via Warwickshire, turning it into more like 500 miles. And I don’t have a home charger, so I started…

Used car prices can fluctuate regularly, but quirky models that have a real cult following tend to hold their value well or even increase in value over time. This fact is epitomised by the fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny, a character-packed compact off-roader that has already gained modern classic status. We think it’s worthy of investment as soon as possible, considering how prices have trickled upwards since its launch in 2018. Due to limited supply and a short lifespan in the UK (the passenger car version was sold here for only two years and the van was pulled in 2024), the Mk4 Jimny is effectively a collector’s item. The classifieds are packed full of cars costing anywhere between £21k and £50k, depending on age and condition. Why spend over the odds on…

When we write about offroad vehicles, it usually involves larking about in a quarry. But 4x4s aren’t just toys for motoring enthusiasts; for many people, they’re an absolute necessity for daily life and/or work. Chief among those people are, of course, farmers. British farms were rapidly mechanised during World War II, and it was the native Land Rover that became the agricultural vehicle of choice as peace returned – and then dominated for decades. In the late 1970s, though, it came under pressure from multifarious 4x4s arriving from abroad. So, in 1982, Autocar gathered the six most significant imports on a farm in rural Kent to see what was what. Static tests were loading sheep, calves, hay bales and fertiliser bags; dynamic tests were towing a laden livestock trailer, crossing…