BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN In the rolling paddocks of motoring, where sleek German thoroughbreds once pranced and pretentious 4x4s posed, there now stands a singular monument to humble triumph. It is not polished (except by downpours). It smells vaguely of hawk and less vaguely of fart. It is ex-gamekeeper turned falconer and CSM columnist, Gary Baxter’s Dacia Duster, which has just lolloped, unburdened by vanity, past … Continue reading The Hare and the Duster
BY NICHOLAS ENGERT It is a simple question. Why are most production cars so dreadfully boring these days? Shapeless, styleless and completely lacking in elegance, most cars today are dull beyond belief. To level this criticism at the designers, and them alone, would be unfair as we must assume they are meeting the requirements of the market they serve. That said most manufacturers appear to … Continue reading The End of Beauty – The Triumph of Boring
BY NIGEL WINTER Few people have inadvertently done more for French exports than Frederick Forsyth. For his The Day of The Jackal did for the Citroen DS (or Goddess in France), as The Italian Job did for the Mini Cooper. Now in its 70th year the Citroen has been elevated to a place on the freshly minted €10 coin. The Citroen enjoyed the unshakable patronage … Continue reading Vive La Goddess
BY FRANK HAVILAND Adverts aren’t what they used to be. Long gone are the days when Cindy Crawford sold us Pepsi, Nicole and Papa’s trysts encouraged us to join the Renault Clio club, and Nescafé’s Gold Blend couple convinced us that the best way to get it on with a neighbour was to ensure you were always out of coffee. Out of the Ark perhaps, … Continue reading Jaguar: All Virtue, No Vehicle
When it comes to car interiors, the upholstery of your seat cushions plays a crucial role in defining the overall aesthetics and comfort of your vehicle. A well-chosen seat cushion can transform the look and feel of your car, making your driving experience more enjoyable and personalised. In this article, we will explore various seat cushion upholstery replacement ideas, discuss different colour schemes and textures, … Continue reading Transform Your Space: Seat Cushion Upholstery Replacement Ideas for Your Car
BY NIALL McCRAE My first car was a Morris Marina 1800 Super. There was nothing super about it; merely seven years old, it was fit for the scrapyard. Having replaced the Austin Cambridge / Morris Oxford in 1971, the top-selling Marina came to be regarded as the worst British car ever. Although the 60s cars appeared antiquated, they were much better built than the products … Continue reading ‘See you Soon’: The Showroom’s Polite Warning
BY JAMES CAMPBELL New Rolls Royces are so beautiful and splendidly engineered that I’d feel nervous getting into one, let alone driving one. The Dawns, Ghosts, Phantoms and Wraiths are the cars of Queens and oil-rich Sheikhs. They are all perhaps a tad too luscious for the likes of me. Even wearing a chauffeur’s cap I’d feel like I didn’t quite belong in one. I … Continue reading Which Rolls Royce?
BY JAMES CAMPBELL The Jaguar XKSS was a road-going version of the Jaguar D-Type racing car. When Jaguar withdrew from competition at the end of the 1956 season, a number of completed and partly completed D-types remained unsold at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory. 12 of 16 Jaguar XKSS sports cars ever built reunited at Pebble Beach To recoup some of the investment made in building … Continue reading The XKSS Dream Machine
BY JAMES CAMPBELL As one of the grandees of this magazine remarked lately, “one should always drive a Range Rover model at least one version older than Her Majesty’s”. There may be something sound in this. There may not. Nonetheless I often wondered which Range Rover was best suited to 2016 and driving around Britain’s countryside. I was chatting with the owner of a small … Continue reading Countryside: Which Range Rover?
