Not so long ago, the arrival of a new Discovery Sport for a week’s loan would be a moment of unbridled celebration. “How lucky we are!” we would have told each other, while our neighbours looked sourly over the fence at the evidence of our abundant good fortune or studiously stared at their feet when we drove past. Now, alas, …
Orange highlights on the Citroen C5 Aircross…on any car they always make me feel faintly itchy, as if a wasp is crawling under my shirt on the skin between my shoulder blades. Like light tan shoes with a dark suit, they strike me as a fashion solecism which will look embarrassingly daft in about ten minutes from now. They are …
It’s big. It’s beautiful. It drives like a dream. Its name carries a sophisticated hint of Italy. It’s got darkened rear windows, the flashest wheels and the grooviest paint job on the street. And, at £31270, nobody could ever say it was cheap. What is it? It is (breathe the words in a whisper) a Ford Focus – though you …
Guess the identity of this car. It has – A contrasting roof and body paint (roof in shimmering black, body in what the manufacturers justifiably call Lightning Blue). A full body styling kit (which means special wing badges, door threshold plates and front grille, along with tinted glass, rear spoiler and polished tailpipe). Eighteen-inch alloy wheels with that edgy machined …
Those words came back to me while I was hammering the Jaguar XE Land Mark Edition AWD along deserted forest roads in Scotland last week. The car and I weren’t anywhere close to 10/10ths – probably somewhere between 6 and 7 – but, even so, I was thinking “It won’t be long before nobody will be allowed to do this …
“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 …