Articles

  • Brooklands: Keeping history alive

    Brooklands: Keeping history alive

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    On July 6, 1987, a Vickers VC-10, fitted out to transport the Sultan of Oman and his entourage in unabashed luxury, made its last ever landing. It touched down on the runway at Brooklands, taxied to its final resting place and has been displayed there ever since. Just under 33 years prior to then, it…

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  • The Carchive: The BMW M5 (E39)

    The Carchive: The BMW M5 (E39)

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    A quick word about douchebags. These days, the ready availability of credit makes expensive, desirable cars attainable by those who might never have aspired to one in the past. This phenomenon has put far more of such cars on the road, and there’s no guessing whether the next brand new M5 you see on the…

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  • All good things

    All good things

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    From time to time, my day job has me walking past my car and taking a seat on another german-built vehicle, but one with 2,080bhp and 280 seats.  I’ll then sit there for an hour or so, gazing out of the window with absolutely no involvement in the driving process, before bailing out at Stratford…

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  • Road reads: Shelter, heroes, and relief

    Road reads: Shelter, heroes, and relief

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    You can rely on the A303, a sinuous, sun-drenched ribbon of tarmac that takes ecstatic holidaymakers towards the wild West country. Then, later, our heads filled with visions of explosive coastlines and tumbling forests, it provides comfort, soothing us on the homewards journey to somewhere far more mundane. The A303 flows in more of a…

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  • The Carchive: 1978 MCW Metrobus

    The Carchive: 1978 MCW Metrobus

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    ‘Tis the season for friends and families to come together and share the spirit of goodwill, considering the present, the future and the past. Perhaps channelling  A Christmas Carol (the Muppets version of which, incidentally, sets the gold standard); a heart-warming tale set in old London town, where a miserly, hated old man learned the…

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  • HCOTY 2018 Nomination: The Citroen 2CV. Metaphorically

    HCOTY 2018 Nomination: The Citroen 2CV. Metaphorically

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    It didn’t have to be this one. Could be any 2Cv, really. In fact, it doesn’t have to be a 2CV at all, but the Tin Snail perfectly embodies the spirit of what it is I’m getting at. Earlier this year, I attended the annual SMMT driving day shindig at Millbrook Proving Ground, where all…

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  • The Carchive: The 1989 Ford line-up

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    The passing of time is the most powerful force in existence. You gaze over your lawn and all seems well, then you look again and it suddenly needs mowing, or you spy a delicious looking orange in the fruit bowl and say, “ooh, lovely, I’ll have that tomorrow”, by which time it’s suddenly white with…

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  • Analogue in-car entertainment: The I-SPY books

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    Spend any time in traffic these days and you’ll see a profusion of seatback-mounted screens, both of the factory-fitted persuasion and aftermarket accessory type. While some of these systems might be employed to nourish the mind of some king of industry as they relax in coddling limousine luxury, the majority are used to hypnotize back…

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  • I'm thankful for: Car brochures

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    It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that, with Friday night being Carchive night, I should choose the day after thanksgiving to express my gratitude for car brochures. They’re the closest thing I have to an addiction, one I’ve been a slave to through the 34 odd years that I’ve been able to…

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  • The future of Car Reviewing — Something to wine about?

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    Ever read a wine review? They’re just fantastic. The annals of television history are littered with memorable comedy sketches that lampoon the pomp of a wine reviewer in full flow. They’re mocked for speaking of  ‘woody notes’, ‘twang of heather’ or ‘hints of the chill easterly breeze as it filters through the vines’ and that…

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