Autocarの August 06, 2025 の目次

The most extreme road-going Porsche 911 model yet is edging closer to production – and it’s being honed with one clear and uncompromising target in mind: to reclaim the Nürburgring lap record for a production car. Since the first 911 GT2 RS arrived in 2010, the model has marked the outer edge of the 911’s performance capabilities – and this thirdgeneration one looks set to raise the bar once again. Prototypes seen testing in Germany feature aggressive new bodywork, including a drastically widened rear wing that gives it an even more dramatic, race car-like stance than earlier incarnations. Power for the new GT2 RS will come from a new hybrid drivetrain derived from Porsche’s Le Mans racers. Compared with the 691bhp pure-ICE Mk2, this will give the new GT2 RS…

DS has hinted it could introduce performance cars in a bid to ramp up its premium credentials. Despite racing in the Formula E series for more than a decade and creating some racy concept cars, DS has yet to develop a fully fledged performance model. However, speaking at the recent London ePrix, new CEO Xavier Peugeot told Autocar he was thinking about bringing the idea to fruition. “There is no closed debate, so why not?” he said. “It might be consistent for us to think about even more powerful versions of our models, of our engines, that would align with our commitment in Formula E. “I believe today that being committed to racing cars is important for DS. It brings dynamism, it brings energy, it brings the capacity to stimulate…

MERCEDES-BENZ WILL introduce a bold new chrome grille design that will feature on its next generation of electric vehicles, starting with the new GLC SUV that will be revealed at next month’s Munich show. The new front-end design, which has been previewed by the image below, reinvents the classic radiator grille design that has featured on nearly every ICE Mercedes model. The current design lineage dates to the Mercedes 35 PS of 1900, which featured an upright honeycomb grille to maximise engine cooling. Elements from that design can be seen in current models, although aerodynamic advances have led the grilles to become far lower and wider. Because the grille was developed for cooling that an EV doesn’t need, the first generation of electric Mercedes featured a different front-end design, but…

Skoda has given a first glimpse of the electric estate concept that it will reveal at next month’s Munich motor show. Named Vision O, the show car will give clues to the next-generation electric Octavia, which is due to arrive by the end of the decade as the first Skoda to sit on the Volkswagen Group’s new SSP EV architecture. The official preview image shows a silhouette that stays true to the general shape of the current car but features distinctive new light signatures and sharper edging in line with Skoda’s new ‘Modern Solid’ design language. Skoda also says the “steeply raked” windscreen and “gently sloping roofline” are “design cues that have characterised Skoda’s most successful estate models”. The Superb and Octavia estates are among Skoda’s best-selling global models, with…

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW open for Autocar’s Drivers of Change awards, which return on 13 November following a successful launch earlier this year. This time we’re celebrating rising talent in the automotive industry. Held with the SMMT at Stellantis’s UK HQ, Drivers of Change: New Talent recognises apprentices and early-career professionals – particularly those from under-represented backgrounds – who are making an impact and showing that automotive is an inclusive, rewarding place to build a career. There are no entry categories: whichever sector you work in, you can help shine a light on the next generation of automotive talent by telling us if you or someone you know fits the bill. Scan the QR code for more information and to submit your nomination.…

MANY WESTERN CAR makers got rich from the expansion of the Chinese market, but all the while their joint venture partners – always a condition of entry to doing business in China – were watching and learning. Now the automotive industry student has become the master and the West is having to learn how to make cars all over again. Some European volumemaking groups aren’t even bothering with China now. Instead, efforts are focused on preparing for the battle with the rapidly growing Chinese car makers back here on home ground. For the Volkswagen Group (VWG), though, there is too much at stake: it has to find a new way to make the Chinese market work. Company CEO Oliver Blume’s speech at VWG’s latest results presentation was dominated by talks…

WRITE TO autocar@haymarket.com ALL BITE AND NO BARK As a proud owner of a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (2018, so prehybrid), I was enjoying reading about the incredible new Cayenne EV (News, 16 July) – up to the point where you described a “synthesised V8 burble”. This is about as authentic and useful as someone in 1910 running alongside early petrol-driven cars bashing together a pair of coconut shells or having their chauffeur nostalgically shout ‘clippety-clop’. Fifteen years ago, I had my manual Ferrari F355 fitted with a Tubi stage-two exhaust, which, apart from instantly curing my mid-life crisis, even now raises the hair on the back of my neck (what’s left of it, anyway). It’s time electric car manufacturers accepted that their cars sound dull in spite of spectacular performance.…

We’ve driven Porsche 911s restomodded by Theon Design before, but the company has never made one as powerful and light as this, which makes 421bhp and weighs just 1150kg. To recap, Theon is based in a discreet barn in north Oxfordshire, where it turns around half a dozen 964-generation 911s a year into cars with a more classic appearance, heavily made-over engines and strengthened and lightened chassis, with an attention to detail and a finish that, in my experience, is the equal of anyone in the game. Prices for commissions start at around £440,000 but you can (and the Texan race car-driving owner of this one did) go north from there. This one has carbonfibre body panels and a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated engine, resulting in a higher power-to-weight ratio than…

BMW can’t be accused of failing to give its difficult pupil every chance to fit in. The six-cylinder, rearwheel-drive M135i (later M140i) was a tough act to follow for its transverse-engined successor, but the Munich firm has been chipping away at it. In 2022, just two years after the launch of the M135i xDrive, I went on a launch event for some suspension tweaks that made it firmer but no more engaging. Last year, the 1 Series got a major facelift (BMW even calls it an entirely new generation), during which it lost the ‘i’ in its name, and now there’s an M Dynamic Pack for maximum sportiness. It costs a hefty £3000, although you can’t have it without the £1550 Technology Pack (keyless entry, adaptive headlights and wireless charging).…

Morgan has been through quite a remarkable transformation over the past 20 years or so. It wasn’t so long ago that Morgan cars were charming but crude. In 2004, the Roadster got a two-star verdict for its wayward handling and alarmingly long stopping distance. The first aluminium chassis represented a big step for the Malvern firm’s cars, but our 2012 Plus 8 road test still judged it to be “not all the car it should and could be”. A real shift came in 2020 with an all-new bonded aluminium platform. Although the Plus Four and Plus Six lacked some polish at launch, they got steadily better with various model-year updates. Now comes the latest step change in Morgan’s 21st-century plan. Although development of the Supersport started as a facelift for…

When the motor car was new, 120 years ago, hundreds of crazy young men in all corners of the industrialised world – including one Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan – fell to building selfpropelled contraptions of their own design. These vehicles and their successes varied greatly, but when it came to naming them, the inventors all did the same thing: they used their surnames. By the time the Ford Motor Company opened for business in 1903, we had Daimler and Benz, Peugeot and Panhard, Renault and Opel, Dodge and Lanchester. Even Alldays & Onions. And more were waiting in the wings. However, while companies run by their founders were once common, family and financial fragmentation now means they are rare. Porsche is still active, of course, but Ford is the…

“The engine’s explosive firepower makes short work of straights” WHY WE RAN IT With sports car pace and dog-friendly space, could this rapid wagon be the ultimate do-it-all daily driver? Too often purpose-built ‘driver’s cars’ make too many sacrifices in pursuit of engagement and vivacity. They will forgo a useful boot in favour of a shoebox-sized frunk, their high-output powerplants will be too noisy and thirsty to facilitate regular deployment, their uncompromising chassis will be all but unbearable on average UK roads and their low-volume enthusiast billing will usually be tied to a high-five-figure price tag – or beyond. But the Cupra Leon (specifically this exact form of Leon: 328bhp, estate, four-wheel drive) blends scintillating dynamics with genuine sports car pace while remaining a comfortable cruiser with a big back…

MILEAGE 4732 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Can a twoseat roadster/GT/sports car be both satisfying to own and electric? As I briefly caught sight of the rear of a metallic grey roadster while viewing a page on the internet, I wondered why ‘my’ MG Cyberster was being photographed and written about. My mistake: it was a picture of the rear of the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. On anything more than a glancing cursory inspection, the two of course don’t look like each other, but in a week when MG has also launched a 742bhp super-saloon, I do get a sense that the old rules about who makes quick and expensive and glamorous cars and who does not are presently being rewritten. I recently took the Cyberster along to a photo and…

With a strong reliability record, pleasing on-road dynamics and a near 50-mile electric range in plug-in hybrid form, it’s small wonder that the fifth-generation Toyota RAV4 holds the title as the world’s best-selling car. More than a million examples were sold worldwide last year alone. And plenty have made their way to Britain over the past seven years, so the classifieds are now littered with Mk5 RAV4s of varying ages, conditions and mileages, some costing as little as £13,000. The cheapest examples are leggy and often wearing plenty of knocks and bruises, so we would aim to pay closer to £18,000 for a clean car with around 65,000 miles on the clock. Several trims are available: Icon, Design, Excel and Dynamic, plus the PHEV also comes in Dynamic Premium and…

Say ‘Evo’ and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in its many generations springs to mind. At least that’s what popped into the head of one UK dealer importing Subaru Imprezas from Japan. Pat Tennant, who bought an Evo from him, recalls what happened next: “The dealer’s supplier told him he had space for two more cars in the shipping container, and would he like a couple of Evos? The dealer thought he meant Lancers and said ‘yes please’, but when he opened the container at the UK port and saw they were Mitsubishi Pajero Evos, he wondered what they were and how he was going to sell them!” The dealer had no choice but to advertise the cars. Luckily for him, Pat saw the ad and did some research. “It turned…

Volkswagen is preparing for one of the most comprehensive product offensives in its 87-year history, with 10 new electric and combustion-engined models due to be launched over the next three years as it reshapes its core line-up. Against a backdrop of stalled sales, deep cost cuts and workforce layoffs at home, the aim of VW’s reinvention is to propel the German company back to its former strength, profitability and global competitiveness. At the heart of this renewed push are the ID 1, ID 2 and ID 2X, the new front-wheel-drive, entry-level electric cars that have been conceived as electric successors to the Up, Polo and T-Cross. Alongside this new trio, the German company will look to bring to market a wider range of electric cars – such as a Golf…

Up against the new Porsche 911 GT2 RS will be Mercedes-AMG’s own track-honed lap-time chaser, which will be powered by a potent turbocharged V8. The new challenger will be previewed by the Concept AMG GT Track Sport. Likely to be revealed at the Munich motor show in September, the concept is based on the secondgeneration AMG GT coupé that was launched in 2023. In its brief announcement, AMG didn’t provide any technical details of the new concept but confirmed it previewed an “expansion of the GT series” that would be powered by a V8. The production version of the concept will serve as the new flagship GT model and is likely to be seen as the successor to the AMG GT Black Series of 2022. AMG has said the new…

THE BOSS OF Nissan UK says the next-generation British-built Leaf is in “a very strong position” to benefit from the maximum £3750 electric car grant (ECG), and that it is right the government has drawn up rules that reward UKbased manufacturing. The new government grants will be available on EVs priced at £37,000 or under (in entry-level form) and which meet carefully calculated emissions targets based on both the car company itself and the country in which the model and its battery are manufactured. The grants will be banded at £1500 or £3750, depending on how well a model meets the emission criteria. The new Leaf, with both the chassis and battery made in Sunderland, is almost certain to be one of very few models to secure the maximum £3750…

A TRADE AGREEMENT has finally been reached between American and European leaders. Vehicles exported from the EU to the US will be hit with a 15% tariff, with those going the other way billed just 2.5% (this applies to all US-made goods). Originally, EU-made cars imported into the US were set to be charged 27.5% of their value, up from 2.5% – a retaliatory measure taken by president Donald Trump in May that was met with global disdain. US-made cars sent to the EU had previously been subject to a 10% tariff. The agreement has been seen as a win from both sides, albeit more so in terms of American car makers, given the lower EU tariff. This could now prompt more American manufacturers to send their cars to Europe.…

AMERICAN HYPERCAR MAKER Czinger, renowned for its radical 3D-printing approach to car manufacturing, has scrapped plans for a multimodel strategy and will focus on increasing the life of its 1233bhp 21C. Speaking to Autocar, new CCO George Biggs said previously announced plans for a striking grand tourer – previewed in 2022 by the Hyper GT concept #8211; and a Lamborghini Urus-inspired SUV were no longer part of the company’s timeline. Both new models would have been mechanically related to the 21C and used the same twinturbocharged 2.88-litre hybridised V8. Biggs said: “If you look at the portfolio, the Czinger brand needs to be something which is very high-end that has a sustainability to it. And I think if you want to chase the market trends [such as the current demand…

DESPITE THE ALMOST bewildering progress of technical innovation, there are many fundamentals that have been around for a very long time. Hydraulic brakes were introduced in the US at the end of World War One. Since then, they have evolved beyond measure, with better design and materials and features such as power assistance and ABS. But according to ZF Friedrichshafen, which has produced more than three billion brake components in the past three years alone, hydraulic brakes’ days are numbered. Given the advance of automated driving features, electrified drivetrains and networking of chassis systems, the component supplier says the switch to brake-by-wire (BbW) is inevitable. The ‘dry’ braking tech is already gaining a foothold both as full four-wheel systems and as ‘hybrid’ set-ups that combine both BbW and hydraulics and…

China’s Geely, owner of LEVC, Lotus, Polestar, Smart and Volvo, is now looking to shake up the UK’s light commercial vehicle (LCV) market with a premium electric van brand. Farizon, founded in 2016, is just weeks away from beginning UK deliveries of its flagship SV and it plans to tempt fleets away from established ICE alternatives by offering a more usable and upmarket proposition. Including the UK’s £5000 Plug-in Van Grant (due to run until April 2026) but not VAT, the SV starts at £40k with a 67kWh battery, giving it a range of 188 miles, while an 83kWh battery boosts range to 234 miles at £43k. The largest version of the SV can be specified with a 106kWh battery that takes it 342 miles – making it easily the…

DRIVEN ASTON MARTIN VALHALLA It’s not a myth: we drive Gaydon’s Formula 1-inspired new supercar FEATURE £100 PER WEEK BARGAINS Brilliant machines that you can pick up for just a ton a week INSIGHT THE STORY OF MG’S SUCCESS We go inside the Chinese firm’s London design studio to discover all EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST VW ID 7 GTX TOURER Is this the best fast electric estate you can buy? Our testers find out USED GUIDE McLAREN 570S Why one of Woking’s finest creations is now a great used buy…

When the idea of an estate car with a tougher brief, a chunkier look, some extra ground clearance and four-wheel drive first emerged in 1997, it did so in opposition to Volvo’s halo models of the time – V70 R, 850 R etc. To hanker after a Cross Country was to have a use for what it could do: on a dirt track, over a wet field or en route to a ski lodge. And you didn’t need to splurge on a powerful engine to get one. These cars may have taken on desirability in a subverted, counterculturey sort of way, but they were intended to be studiously, almost wantonly functional. The new EX30 Cross Country is different. An EX30, first and foremost, isn’t really the same kind of versatility-first…

Decrypting a car’s equipment structure can be a bit of an art. Judging by the faint sense of desperation I’ve felt when buying a new TV, I wonder how people who aren’t that interested in cars manage it. Options lists have shrunk over the years, giving way to a handful of trim levels and option packs, but it’s still a bit of a minefield, particularly with cars like the new Audi A5. Want the white leather or 19in wheels? You can have them, but you will need to upgrade to S Line trim, which also lumps you with Audi’s Sport suspension, and we know that’s rarely a good idea in the UK. Not that we were able to offer definitive advice on the suspension choice initially, because the first batch…

The BYD Seagull is the car that made waves when it arrived in its maker’s native domestic market in 2023 as one of the very cheapest EVs in the world. As far as European buyers are concerned – and a little regrettably, perhaps – it will be known as the BYD Dolphin Surf, but it is nonetheless essentially the same car, and it stands ready to add to the burgeoning value-EV ranks. It brings with it BYD’s expertise on battery and motor technology and an entry price that undercuts most of its European competitors. Can China’s renowned global ‘new energy’ specialist use all of that experience to do more with less? At 3990mm long, the Dolphin Surf is sized like a Citroën ë-C3 or Renault 5. What muddies the water…

Few people will ever witness a car crash. That’s a good thing, but for the police who must understand what caused one and the lawyers and insurers who must deal with the aftermath, it’s not. It’s why every year the Institute of Traffic Accident Investigators (ITAI) organises ‘crash day’, which is exactly as it sounds: a day devoted to crashing cars, to which it invites its members and people in associated services. Of course, you may wonder why, given that Euro NCAP crash-tests the latest cars, it’s necessary for the ITAI to spend a day doing the same. “Euro NCAP’s tests are important but different,” explains Chris Goddard, an independent collision investigator who previously did the same work in the police and who was at crash day taking photos. “Its…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the third all-new EV from this nascent luxury brand is as compelling as its spec sheet and unique look suggest We’ve long been promised cars of quite different shapes and sizes thanks to the advent of EVs and the skateboard-style architectures on which they’re based. But instead we seem to have been treated to a series of slightly taller and visually uninspiring hatchbacks. The Polestar 3, though, really is something different. In its profile and proportions, I’m struggling to pick a direct rival or even say what it reminds me of. It’s a taller estate car but with a sleek body, raised but definitely still sporty. It looks great. In an office discussion, we once counted more than 50 different categories of car;…

MILEAGE 1012 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if its clever design can win us over in extended use So far, the Volvo EX30 is proving to be an enigma. In certain respects, it’s brilliant, yet every time I settle back behind the wheel and think about declaring my love for it, something really annoying will happen. And that something will usually be accompanied by an even more annoying beep. As you may recall from when Volvo’s small crossover joined our fleet, it has much to prove, given our previous experiences with the touchscreen-dominated interface. But before we get distracted by that, I am impressed by how pleasant the EX30 is to drive. Colleagues have had reservations about the powerful twin-motor versions we’ve tried, but in this format – with…

AN OWNER’S VIEW JEREMY RISEBROW “I bought my RAV4 PHEV in March 2022 and have put more than 69,000 miles on it. I liked the idea of a 4x4 that was economical to drive for most of my mileage but which could also do long trips. The RAV4 appeared to fit the bill. It’s comfortable and spacious, and the four-wheel drive has been handy in winter. “Sadly, my car is currently off the road due to a fault with the high-voltage cable to the back axle. The dealer says it isn’t covered under warranty; Toyota tells them there’s an ‘ingress of water’ exclusion. I’ve been quoted more than £10,000 to fix the car. It’s still at the dealer.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ ENGINE The coolant bypass valve, which regulates the flow…

Volkswagen bosses are planning the discontinuation of the Touareg, drawing a line under one of its most upmarket models. Insiders have told Autocar it will cease to be produced from next year, leaving the recently introduced Tayron as VW’s largest SUV model in the UK. First launched in 2002, the luxury Touareg was developed alongside the original Porsche Cayenne, sharing the same platform and fulfilling a dual purpose: giving Porsche its first SUV model and helping then VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch realise his ambition of elevating the VW brand with models such as the Touareg and its saloon sibling, the Phaeton. The decision to axe the Touareg reflects changing priorities at VW. Positioned as a lower-cost alternative with broader appeal, the new Tayron, already on sale in key global markets…

Nissan is considering using its Formula E team to develop prototype versions of hot EVs that could be used to help create future Nismo performance models. Tommaso Volpe, Nissan’s Formula E team boss, told Autocar there are internal talks about how the Paris-based squad can aid the Nismo division in the development of future road-going electric performance cars. The Japanese firm currently offers a warmedup Nismo-badged version of the Ariya electric SUV, but company boss Ivan Espinosa previously told Autocar the firm had “exciting plans” for future sports cars, suggesting he wanted four or five halo models to top the line-up. While he stressed plans had not been agreed yet, Volpe said a proposal was under consideration for the squad to develop “some prototypes based on normal chassis that can…

JLR CEO Adrian Mardell is leaving the British car maker after nearly three years at the helm, as first reported by Autocar. Mardell was appointed as CEO in November 2022, following the sudden departure of Thierry Bolloré, and has led the Jaguar and Land Rover brands through one of the most transformative periods in their respective histories. A JLR spokesperson said in an official statement: “Adrian Mardell has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company. His successor will be announced in due course.” Mardell has steered JLR through a remarkable financial turnaround, with it going from heavy losses and huge debt in the wake of the Covid pandemic to posting its best profit figures for a decade last year.…

NEW RENAULT GROUP CEO François Provost has said his top priority will be to continue to invest in new products and bring them to market faster. Speaking at a press conference announcing Renault’s results for the first half of 2025, Provost also said he wants to keep Alpine in Formula 1. The Frenchman, who had most recently overseen Renault Group procurement, was announced the day prior as the successor to former CEO Luca de Meo, the man who had led a turnaround of the company over the past five years under his ‘Renaulution’ banner. The new CEO thanked de Meo for his work and said there will be no major change in strategy. However, he has vowed to “speed up execution” of the plan as part of “an obsession with…

Tesla posted one its sharpest year-onyear declines in revenue, with boss Elon Musk warning that the trend is set to continue through what is expected to be one of the most challenging periods in the EV company’s history. The key pullout from Tesla’s second-quarter earnings was a 12% yearon-year dip in income to $22.5 billion, which it blamed on a 13% decline in sales (to 384,122) and a 51% (or $441 million) drop in revenue from EV credits, the latter due to a winding down of EV regulations in the US (part of president Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’). Musk told reporters on the earnings call that Tesla “probably could have a few rough quarters” ahead. His comments resulted in its share price dropping by 7%. Compounding what was one…

I greatly enjoyed Illya Verpraet’s piece on ‘parts bin bingo’ (Testing, Testing, 9 July). It’s certainly true that Lotus is a different outfit from the one it was in the Colin Chapman era, but the ingenuity applied to raiding corporate parts bins in those days is unsurpassed. Take the Elan +2. It used the windscreen from a Ford Consul Capri (as did the Reliant Scimitar), but the bumpers were particularly ingenious: the front one is an unmodified Ford Anglia 105E item – so well integrated that unless you know, you never spot it – with the grille embellisher strip from the rare ‘standard’ Anglia (or its van sibling) turned upside down and narrowed with a little clip-on cover to hide the join. The rear one is made from two Wolseley…

Get 13 issues for just £37.49 Ready for the ultimate summer read? Dive into Britain’s best car weekly and experience the thrill of motoring like never before. From breaking news and cutting-edge reviews to exclusive road tests, Autocar keeps you in the fast lane, every single week. Autocar — the original car magazine, and still the best. Go digital or choose our bundle offer and explore 130 years of motoring heritage in our digital archive. Add digital access to your subscription to read on any device. PRINT SAVE £27 £37.49 FOR 13 ISSUES PRINT + DIGITAL SAVE £93 £57.49 FOR 13 ISSUES Order today, by visiting themagazineshop.com/SM25PA/aca or call 0344 848 8816 quoting ‘SM25PA’ TERMS AND CONDITIONS This is a UK-only offer. After your first 13 issues for £37.49, your…

Last week, you may have read about the new MG IM5, a high-tech electric ‘saloon’ that pushes MG upmarket with its 5m scope, speed and class-leading charging capability. Rakish if derivative design cues further mark it out as not your typical modern-day MG. It also represents some sleight of hand from MG’s parent company, Chinese colossus SAIC. This is because the IM5 has already been on sale in China as the IM L6, under the banner of Intelligence in Motion. With MG in need of a more luxury offering to boost profits and better appeal to UK fleet drivers, the decision was taken to bring the L6 here and sell it under MG’s auspices. In our increasingly rationalised world, this makes plenty of sense, even if MG neglected to change…

Fiat’s conspicuously cutesy compact crossover, the 600, now offers a more powerful hybrid powertrain, if you don’t fancy going fully electric. Joining the Hybrid 100, the new Hybrid 136 offers increased performance by virtue of its harder-working turbo triple – yet also identical official fuel economy and carbon emissions. The extra £1000 you’re spending would seem to only have upsides, then. It gets you a car that’s 2.4sec quicker from 0-62mph and actually makes more power even than the model badging would suggest. Fiat’s homologated peak power for the Hybrid 136 is in fact 144bhp, the engine making 134bhp of that and the 48V electric motor coming up with the rest. Quite why it isn’t being called the Hybrid 145 (it makes 145PS) is mysterious. The wider structure of the…

Britain has a new car show, guaranteed to be more colourful and diverse than any so far listed in the UK’s busy calendar. The first-ever Petrol & Pride meeting, aimed at combining the car passions of members of the LGBTQ+ community with those of their allies in the British automotive industry and anywhere else, was held on 25 July at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, the mammoth motoring complex that’s also home to JLR and Aston Martin. The idea sprang up earlier this year when an annual list of LGBTQ+ ‘trailblazers’ was published by Attitude magazine. Publisher Darren Styles and editor Cliff Joannou noted a rising number of car companies in their list and wondered whether their input could make a car show. Bentley comms director Wayne Bruce grabbed…

MILEAGE 1825 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out how easy it is to live with a small-battery EV in 2025 What makes a Mini a Mini? It’s a tough philosophical question (at least within our motoring world) and one that is hard to answer. A lot of people have a very fixed definition – a definition that involves words such as ‘go-kart’ and ‘petrol’, neither of which apply to my Mini Aceman. I find it hard to subscribe to a definitive idea of what a Mini is, because Mini’s roots, while old and fortified by the Issigonis car that was largely similar and recognisable throughout its 41-year history, are actually quite varied. I mean, the first ‘Mini’ famously made in 1959 wasn’t even a Mini: it was a Morris…

BMW 1 SERIES Mileage 5798 Last seen 30.7.25 In its formative years, the 1 Series was notably less practical than rival hatchbacks as punishment for its unique RWD configuration. Nowadays even adults will be happy in the back. There’s more leg room than in other premium hatchbacks and enough head room for someone approaching 6ft tall – although I’d suggest you avoid my 120’s opening sunroof if you will regularly be transporting taller people. KC CITROEN E-C3 Mileage 3111 Last seen 23.7.25 The penny-pinching nature of the ë-C3 means there’s no keyless entry system, even on our range-topping Max model. Pressing a button isn’t too much of a hardship, but there’s one part of the car that doesn’t lock: the charging flap. This means anybody can press it down and…

JEEP WRANGLER 392 RUBICON 2023, 5600 miles, £103,990 It’s huge and left-hand-drive, but as a tool for navigating the Atacama desert, this tricked-up Wrangler is a far more capable off-roader than the Pajero Evo (left) with its 463bhp 6.4-litre Hemi V8 engine and Fox suspension. FORD RANGER RAPTOR 3.0T V6 ECOBOOST 2023, 43,000 miles, £38,490 With clever Fox dampers, chunky BF Goodrich tyres and suite of driving modes, this is a mighty off-roader that shames everything in the class. Its 288bhp petrol V6 brings plenty of drama and noise too – particularly in Baja mode. LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 V8 50TH ANNIVERSARY 1999, 96,000 miles, £32,995 Special-edition Defenders don’t get much cooler than this 50th Anniversary model, one of just 385 examples. As well as its characterful 4.0-litre V8 engine,…

For as long as anyone can recall, Morgan cars have been clearly and proudly old-fashioned, in terms of style, ethos and production, even if the engines have been modern. And while many have always been baffled by the prospect of buying a new car that looks like a very old one, many others adore Morgan. But when exactly did the British brand get stuck in time – and why? Let’s go back to the start. In the earliest days of motoring in Britain, only the upper crust could partake; those below could afford only a motorcycle, attaching a sidecar if they needed to carry passengers. So when former railway engineer Henry Morgan decided to put his own car into production, with a simple design featuring only one rear wheel and…