A day with London’s exclusive Auto Vivendi supercar club Life&Style We crawl through Cricklewood, battle through Brent Cross, then cruise sedately up the A1 (M). Finally, we take the exit, the traffic ebbs away and the road opens up ahead: a ribbon of empty tarmac between open fields. My overwhelming urge is to click the left paddle down a couple of gears, flatten my right [...]
Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge: Bright sparks, dark dreams Life&Style The typical Rolls-Royce buyer – if such a person exists – is now 42 years old. For the Spectre, the average age drops to just 35. Given that I recently celebrated my 46th birthday and drive a 19-year-old Golf, those feel like sobering statistics. Clearly, I should have worked harder at school. Rolls-Royce’s shifting demographic [...]
Gordon Murray Automotive: The supercar stars of Goodwood Life&Style This week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will celebrate the 60-year career of Gordon Murray CBE. From his early days at the Brabham F1 team to establishing his own car company, Murray is one of the motoring world’s greatest innovators. Born in South Africa, the young Murray designed, built and raced his own ‘IGM-Ford’ sports car. [...]
Sympathy for the Devil: How Eccentrica reinvented a Lamborghini June 30, 2025 Both Emanuel Colombini and yours truly had a poster of a Lamborghini Diablo on our respective bedroom walls. However, only one of us made that childhood dream come true: not just by owning a Diablo, but also by hauling this wild Italian wedge abruptly out of retirement. Frankly, if I could still Blu Tack supercars [...]
Kingsley Range Rover KSR review: the best 4×4 so far? June 20, 2025 Out goes the low-range gearbox, in come cupholders and CarPlay. Luxury SUV customers – the kind of folk who might buy a Bentley Bentayga or Rolls-Royce Cullinan – know what their priorities are. “People don’t take these vehicles off-road,” explains Martin Gisborne, sales director at Kingsley Re-Engineered. “They will do most of their miles in [...]
Alpine A290 GTS review: 2025’s most exciting EV turns up the heat June 12, 2025 The reborn Renault 5 has already won almost every automotive award going in 2025, including the European Car of the Year title. It’s the greatest comeback since Elvis Presley at Burbank Studios in 1968, or Niki Lauda at the Italian Grand Prix in 1976. If the electric Renault is the best thing since sliced baguette, [...]
Morgan Supersport 2025 review: Judging a book by its cover June 5, 2025 Question: what do Donald Trump, the Morgan Supersport and Britain’s best-selling brand of yeast extract have in common? Answer: they all polarise people, like taking a pick-axe to the pie chart of public opinion. So, you will either love how the Supersport looks or you absolutely won’t. Sitting on the fence is seemingly not an [...]
Mazda CX-80 PHEV review: Hybrid SUV does things differently June 3, 2025 If you had contemplated buying a Mazda CX-60 SUV, but wanted to carry seven people, the new CX-80 could be the answer. With an upmarket image, it’s a more affordable challenger to vehicles such as the Land Rover Discovery and Audi Q7. Despite its considerable size, the CX-80 is not the largest SUV made by [...]
Boreham Motorworks Ford Escort Mk1 68 Edition: Praise the Ford May 30, 2025 If this was a pitch on Dragons’ Den, it’s hard to imagine anyone agreeing to invest. “We’re bringing back the Ford Escort after 25 years of absence.” (Deborah Meaden arches an eyebrow.) “It won’t be legal to drive on the road.” (Stephen Bartlett slowly shakes his head). “And it will cost upwards of £300,000.” (Peter [...]
Frontline MGA Factory Edition review: Best of British May 28, 2025 Blatting between overgrown hedgerows, past a village green and a country pub, the little MG seems energised by the sunshine that dapples its polished chrome and British Racing Green coachwork. This could easily be a scene from 1955, and the idyllic England that lives in our collective imagination. From the driver’s seat, though, it feels [...]
