BY JAMES CAMPBELL The Rolls-Royce Camargue is a 2-door luxury saloon manufactured and marketed by Rolls-Royce Motors from 1975-1986. Designed by Paolo Martin at Pininfarina, the Camargue was the first post-war production Rolls Royce not designed in-house. The Camargue received a varied reception, having ranked as one of the “10 Worst Cars” as chosen in 2010 by readers of the Globe and Mail; having ranked … Continue reading The Ugly Roller
BY JAMES CAMPBELL My remit on Country Squire Magazine is to supply “mechanical porn” and I trust I have lived up to my responsibilities, even if I have occasionally featured some old British rust buckets and perhaps too often displayed my undying love for Land Rovers in the magazine’s pages. This week I cannot fail to disappoint. This time with a boat. Well, a hydroplane … Continue reading Ferrari Arno XI
BY JAMES CAMPBELL I was talking to an Indonesian fellow at the weekend. He claimed to be filthy rich and he asked me what cars would I include in a car collection if money were no object. What was the first car I mentioned? There are only two Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantics in the world. Scarcity inevitably leads to rising prices. The one from 1936 … Continue reading Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic
BY JAMES CAMPBELL Lamborghini is set to begin production of their first ever SUV, a 600hp hybrid luxury crossover called the Urus, next month. The new SUV will be made in Sant’Agata Bolognese, thus reinforcing Lamborghini as an Italian brand. And it looks absolutely beautiful if I don’t say myself. Writing in the Express Luke John Smith describes the Urus thus: “the concept images make … Continue reading Urus
BY JAMES CAMPBELL When I was learning to read in the late 1970’s, one of my prized possessions was a book all about cars which featured a chapter full of glossy photos about concept cars. I am not sure whether it was the drugs or what it was but the 70’s as a decade – in spite of the oil crisis – produced some of … Continue reading My Vector W2 Boyhood Dream
BY JAMES CAMPBELL Some cars leave you with a soft spot. One such car for me is the Hillman Imp which, for five years, was the vehicle that took me to prep school in the mornings. It was the car which I remember skidding around in 1970’s snow. The car I was sick in when we suffered a bout of norovirus from my father’s cooking … Continue reading The Hillman Imp
BY JAMES CAMPBELL On a recent work trip to Arizona, I saw one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. No, it wasn’t an immigration wall. Nor was it the beautiful pink of Sedona’s rocks. It was a Maserati 3500 GT Convertible parked outside a bar in Scottsdale. The Maserati 3500 GT and the Maserati 3500 GT Convertible are 2-door coupé and convertible … Continue reading Majestic Maserati 3500 GT
BY JAMES CAMPBELL The Lotus Europa name is used on two distinct mid-engined GT coupé cars built by Lotus Cars between 1966 and 1975. The Director of Lotus Engineering Ron Hickman decided to pitch for the Ford GT40 racing car project but lost out. The Lotus Europa was built consequently. From the front the Europa is a beauty. Alas, when you check out her rear … Continue reading A Half Desirable Lotus
BY JAMES CAMPBELL In the last twenty years, there have been new UV companies popping up across the world to cater for the super rich, who seem to want to own as many toys as they can get their hands on. Some quite ridiculous vehicles have been built including luxury tanks. I keep my eye on the development of luxury golf carts, as I am … Continue reading Duruxx: Get Out with a Bang
BY JAMES CAMPBELL Since I was a boy I have always yearned for a Riva launch. The Italian sleekness, the polished wood, the cutting-edge design – Riva makes simply mouth-watering launches, which, in my youth, were always adorned by Sophia Lauren or Brigitte Bardot (pictured below), to make them even more jaw-dropping. The Riva boatyard was established in 1842 on Lake Iseo, in Sarnico, Italy. … Continue reading Riva Aquarama
BY JAMES CAMPBELL Rolls Royce entering the SUV market with the Cullinan in 2018 doesn’t come as much of a surprise. When Bentley produced the Bentayga in 2016 the other luxury marques were already producing SUV’s or were well along the path to producing them. Jaguar’s F-Pace went on sale this year, while both Alfa Romeo and Maserati recently showed their SUV plans in the … Continue reading The RR Cullinan
BY JAMES CAMPBELL What do you get if you combine my love of the sea and diving with my passion for cars? Amphibious cars and underwater cars. Bear with me. I am not barking mad. Nowadays there are some genuinely decent vehicles in the class. Arguably the first proper car that could go from driving on the road, to ‘driving’ in the water, was the Amphicar, … Continue reading Amphibious Cars Become Cool
BY JAMES CAMPBELL With England struggling in India and Australia getting beaten by seemingly anyone they face right now, who is likely to usurp India from the Number 1 Test Rankings spot over the next year or so? The current test rankings are: Realistically, only the top 5 teams are in with a shout. New Zealand are not the greatest travellers and Sri Lanka are, … Continue reading Test Cricket World Number 1
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?
BY JAMES CAMPBELL The weirdest US Election ever just got a whole lot weirder. Just when you thought that groping, murdering, embezzling and deleting confidential emails were the only peculiarities that have coloured this election, in walks Danney Williams from left stage. Who is Danney Williams? Well Danney Williams (left below) alleges to be Bill Clinton’s long lost black son. Live at the National Press … Continue reading US Election Just Got Weirder
BY JAMES CAMPBELL The Great British Countryside is already missing the Land Rover Defender. Not only is there an emotional attachment between this rugged four-wheel drive workhorse and country dwellers, there is a practical side to the Defender that other car manufacturers have failed to cash in on. Yes, there are still plenty of Land Rover Defenders on the market but production did cease, after … Continue reading Listen Up, Land Rover!
BY JAMES CAMPBELL A few months back I was driving over a small river bridge in Somerset and saw a bus coming towards me the other side of the bridge. I thought at the time how ridiculous that such a fat bus was allowed on such a thin, medieval road. I pulled over to the left as far as the wall – along and past … Continue reading Fat Buses
BY JAMES CAMPBELL You will have heard the term ‘passporting’ a great deal in the media of late. The concept is not easy to understand for those not involved in the policy work and there is much dispute about its importance to UK-based businesses. There has been some welcome clarification in a letter from Andrew Bailey (Chief Executive, Financial Conduct Authority) in a letter to … Continue reading Passporting
