The Jaguar F-Pace SVR is a fire-breathing SUV brute. But Tim Pitt discovers its softer side September 9, 2019 Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations division hasn’t been backwards about coming forwards. Its opening salvo was the 2016 F-Type SVR, a bona fide British supercar to rival the Porsche 911 GT3. In 2018, SVO then followed up with something even more extreme. The XE SV Project 8 was a hand-built 600hp road racer that vaguely resembled [...]
The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante is the best looking car in town – and boy is it a rush August 12, 2019 Forgive me, officer, for I have sinned. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then 725 metric horsepower tests even the sternest sense of resolve. It will blast you to 62mph in less time than it takes to say ‘Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante’ and leave black lines on the Tarmac longer than the Costa Brava. Thankfully, [...]
The David Brown Mini Remastered is a small car with a big price tag August 6, 2019 My first car was a Mini. If you’re fast-approaching middle age, yours probably was too. I bought my (t)rusty 1983 Mini City for £325, sprayed go-faster stripes on the bonnet and shoehorned a subwoofer into the boot. After passing my test, I enjoyed one day of glorious freedom, then crashed it in Croydon. Result: a [...]
The new A35 isn’t Mercedes-AMG’s hottest hatchback, but it certainly isn’t tepid July 16, 2019 The hot hatch has reached boiling point. Very soon, Mercedes will reveal a new AMG A45, with the most powerful four-cylinder engine ever. Its scorching 416hp bests a 288 GTO – Ferrari’s mid-1980s poster car – in a game of Top Trumps, and may well get from 0-62mph in less than four seconds. A supercar-slaying [...]
The latest Bentley Continental GT is a comfortable cruiser with the unmistakable soul of a sports car October 15, 2018 Say the word ‘veneer’ and most people think of cheap MDF furniture. Bentley, however, takes veneer very seriously. Its team of expert veneer hunters scours the globe for the finest wood finishes, rejecting up to 70 percent of each chosen tree. Then, the process of testing and treating the veneer takes at least 18 months [...]
The Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder is a V10-powered double espresso, with a Red Bull chaser October 8, 2018 How fast? How much? Is it a Ferrari? Will you swap for my Fiesta? These are all questions you’ll be asked – repeatedly – if you drive a Lamborghini Huracan. Especially if it’s the Performante Spyder in Giallo Inti yellow, with molten gold wheels, a fixed rear wing and Italian Tricolore stripes. Every fuel fill-up, [...]
Some like it yacht: The Abarth 695C Rivale is a hot hatch inspired by a luxury boat September 3, 2018 The original Fiat 500 was Italy’s answer to the Mini, Citroen 2CV or Volkswagen Beetle: a ‘people’s car’ that mobilised the masses. In recent times, the practical Panda has answered this need for back-to-basics transport, while the 500, like many of the London streets it inhabits, has become gentrified. Today, it’s more premium than proletarian. [...]
Mercedes-Benz SL R107: The best classic Merc you can buy February 19, 2018 All cars eventually become classics, but not all classics are created equal. The ‘R107’ Mercedes-Benz SL is a case in point. This luxurious grand tourer – we’ll stop short of calling it a sports car – was a cut above the automotive norm when new, and remains so today. Indeed, it’s one of the best [...]
Porsche 964 Carrera RS review: Tim Pitt lets Porsche’s road racer off its leash, but is this the ultimate 911? March 20, 2017 The Porsche 911 is the greatest sports car ever made. There, I’ve said it. This Darwinian survivor has evolved over five decades, transcending humble VW Beetle origins and shrugging off attempts to replace it. From air-cooled originals to today’s turbocharged Carrera, every 911 is iconic, idiosyncratic and unfailingly brilliant to drive. But which is the [...]
We revisit the brilliant BMW M3 CSL, the lightweight 2003 classic that’s rocketing in value February 27, 2017 Imagine for a moment you’re in an upmarket restaurant and the conversation is flowing as readily as the red wine. You finish your starter and main, then summon the willpower to skip dessert. But you’re presented with a bill for the full three courses, plus a hefty service charge. That was BMW’s sales pitch for [...]
