Mini Cooper SE 2025 review: Minimum emissions, maximum fun February 24, 2025 Cast your mind back to 2001. As a new millennium got underway, the Mini brand was dramatically relaunched under BMW ownership, starting with the first-generation Mini hatchback. Time has moved quickly, with the Mini now into its fourth generation. Electrification is now core to the range, with the latest Mini available in both petrol and [...]
Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge Series II: Opulence with attitude February 24, 2025 The Ghost model name is as old as Rolls-Royce itself. Or so the story goes. In fact, the car revealed by Charles Royce and Henry Royce in 1906 was called the 40/50 hp, but managing director Claude Johnson – who described himself as “the hyphen in Rolls-Royce” – nicknamed his 40/50 hp the Silver Ghost [...]
New Spectre Black Badge is the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever February 18, 2025 Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new, performance-focused Black Badge version of its electric Spectre coupe. The Black Badge arrives in response to unprecedented customer demand, as the British company prepares to invest £300 million in its Goodwood headquarters. Chris Brownridge, chief executive at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “Black Badge Spectre is one of the clearest statements [...]
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 review: Taking on the 911 Turbo February 12, 2025 The previous AMG GT was a bit of a brute. With steroid-pumped styling, a bombastic V8 up front and rear-wheel drive, it embodied AMG at its most ‘OMG’: a muscle car that took a wrong turn off Detroit’s Eight Mile Drive and somehow ended up in Stuttgart. The new GT is, well… more of a [...]
Jaguar E-Type Series I restomod: A reborn Jaguar done right February 12, 2025 Elon Musk didn’t like it. Nor did Nigel Farage. The Twitterer-in-Chief responded to Jaguar’s rebrand video by asking “Do you sell cars?”. And the MP for Clacton went further, declaring: “I predict Jaguar will now go bust. And you know what? They deserve to.” Loath as I am to agree with Nigel Farage about anything, [...]
Mercedes-Benz G-Class review: The sensible status symbol SUV January 24, 2025 The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen has preened and flexed in so many rap videos, my teenage son assumed the ‘G’ stood for ‘Gangster’. Imagine his disappointment, then, when I dutifully pointed out the name is a contraction of the German word Geländewagen – literally translated as ‘go-anywhere car’. Were his eyes not already glazing over at this [...]
Audi R8 V10 GT RWD review: A last blast in a landmark supercar January 18, 2025 The R8 was Audi’s first supercar – and might be its last. R8 production has already stopped and it won’t be replaced. After 18 years, two generations and countless special editions, this run-out V10 GT RWD (one of 333 cars worldwide, and only 15 allocated to the UK) is the end of the road. I [...]
New Aston Martin Vantage Roadster will be ready for the summer January 16, 2025 Aston Martin seems to be on a roll at present, with a raft of new and updated sports cars launched during the past 12 months. Following in the tyre tracks of the mid-engined Valhalla hypercar, limited-edition Valiant and new V12 Vanquish, the latest arrival from this British marque is the 2025 Vantage Roadster. Based on [...]
Skoda Superb iV Estate review: A family car with no compromises January 14, 2025 Finding a family estate used to be an easy process, with almost every car manufacturer offering a ‘longroof’ version of its hatchback or saloon models. Fast-forward to the present day, however, and finding a new wagon can feel trickier than having a balanced argument on social media. We can thank the exponential rise of the [...]
Polestar 2 review: Popular premium EV now tops 400 miles January 13, 2025 First launched in 2022, the Polestar 2 was the first fully electric model from the Chinese-owned Swedish brand. However, things move fast in the EV market, so Polestar has given its stylish crossover a substantial overhaul. The Polestar 2 faces a lot more competition than when it initially went on sale. The market for electric [...]