The new Ford Puma deserves success: innovative, practical, intelligent design, a car with a cheerful, optimistic smily face – this is an excellent start to a new decade. Remember the Puma name from an attractive Ford coupe from the mid-’90s? Now the name has been applied to one of the best conceived of the latest crop of SUVs. It is …
Review – You’d be better off with a Kia Ceed
“I have always fancied an Aston Martin,” said a friend who has recently come into a bit of money. “You’d be better off with a Kia Ceed,” I immediately answered. At that point, some time ago, I was talking in purely theoretical terms. Having come very close to buying an Aston Martin 30 years ago and having known many Aston …
ŠKODA, cheers to the first 125 Years
The ŠKODA story began in 1895 when two cycling enthusiasts by the name of Václav Laurin (a mechanic) and Václav Klement (a bookseller) started out by designing and manufacturing bicycles under the name Laurin & Klement. This name is now reserved for the top-end L&K models in the Škoda lineup. The bicycles sold well, and technology was advancing; So Laurin …
VAUXHALL’S DECADE-A-DAY – 1 – The Vauxhall 5hp Light Car
Built from 1903, Vauxhall’s first year of car production, and known as the ‘Light Car’, the model featured a slow-revving, single-cylinder engine producing just five horsepower. Perhaps showing Vauxhall’s roots as a producer of marine engines, the Light Car was steered by a tiller, with its speed regulated by a brass hand-wheel next to the driver. A two-speed epicyclic gearbox …
The perfect vehicle for apocalyptic survival
The current COVID-19 situation is prompting lockdowns across the globe; With views of the Contagion movie on the up, many people are jokingly referring to the situation as the ‘Apocalypse’ – this is, of course, complete nonsense. But just in case the apocalypse did come knocking though, here are my four choices that may just be the ticket to riding …
Kia cars, there’s a whole world out there
On spending self-isolation time looking at Kia, worldwide there’s another range of cars we just don’t get here, large and small from diminutive city cars to V8 luxury saloons, monstrous eight-seater SUVs to battery electric vehicles. Kia sold thousand of cars in the UK and millions of vehicles worldwide in 2019, 2.77m in fact, with 5000 dealerships in 180 countries. …
For those dreamy, wind in the hair days
A future one to look out for, the Morgan Plus 4 70th Anniversary, last week, the first four cars rolled off the production line. The handcrafted sports car factory in Pickersleigh Road, Malvern has now just closed for one month to help combat the spread of Covid-19. First coming to the market in 1950 the Plus 4 has been one …
PEUGEOT 208 GT Line, pretty, pretty smart
View PostThe Suzuki Swift Sport, sublime and simple
It’s hard to translate into words the sheer childlike enjoyment that I’ve experienced during my time with the Suzuki Swift Sport. I’ll admit, I had been rather excited for the delivery day since it was confirmed as I’d heard so many good things about both generations of the Swift; And boy, oh boy, did it deliver on my expectations. It’s …
Ford Fiesta Vignale, it’s all about design
View PostŠkoda Fabia Hatch Monte-Carlo – Simply refreshing
Some things in life are known for being refreshing; The first sip of a cold drink on a hot summer day, a warm shower first thing on a cold winter morning, getting to work without having to fight traffic jams or wrestling for a parking space. Now we can add driving the Škoda Fabia Monte Carlo to that list. You …
The Audi A4 allroad quattro, a sublime piece of work
View PostKia Soul EV, electrifying, everyday
Electric cars are somewhat of a talking point right now and the Kia Soul EV is worth gassing about. The UK Government has recently set out a ban on the sale of new ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars by 2035, with the shock inclusion of Hybrid vehicles within this category. This leaves only fully electric vehicles free to be sold …
Mitsubishi L200 Series 6 – A premium pick-up
“What’s that green sign on the dashboard that says Eco?” asked my wife, in the newest Mitsubishi LS200. “I wouldn’t have thought this was a very environmentally friendly vehicle.” The motor industry may be capable of shameless deceit and breathtaking pretence but – seeing as that indicator was usually showing that the pick-up was doing about 20 mpg – even …
