The folly of a £64k Porsche Cayman 21 November 2008 by Glen Waddington £64k for a Cayman? And not even an RS? Read more ...
Los Angeles Auto Show 2008: Gavin Green’s analysis 20 November 2008 by Gavin Green Our man takes temperature of the US industry at LA show Read more ...
How Phil McNamara voted in Car of the Year 2009 17 November 2008 by Phil McNamara The following is an exact copy of what Phil wrote in his judging form for Europe’s 2009 Car of the Year. Let’s start by dismissing Renault’s Megane – its maximum NCAP rating is its sole outstanding... Read more ...
Driving and video at Porsche’s new Driving Experience Centre 17 November 2008 by Ben Barry I genuinely learned something new about my driving last week. I’d been invited along to the Porsche Driving Experience, and took to the track in a 911 Carrera 2 with an instructor – Simon – in the... Read more ...
Bail-out or jump out? By Gavin Green 14 November 2008 by Gavin Green What a funny old world! Who would have thought George Bush would become a great socialist hero, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Lenin, Marx and Stalin. He’s already nationalised banks and insurance... Read more ...
Why Ferraris have lost their beauty, by Gavin Green 10 November 2008 by Gavin Green The new Ferrari California is magnificent. Honestly, Ferraris just get better and better. The two newest – the 599 and now the California – are fast, refined, inspiring, agile, well-made and when... Read more ...
SEMA 2008 show report 06 November 2008 by Phil McNamara Welcome to the SEMA show, the place where a Mini Clubman, Ferrari Scuderia and Think electric golf cart can sit alongside Hummers with caterpillar tracks, the converted Cadillac ambulance from... Read more ...
Why Chrysler is like Rover, by Gavin Green 05 November 2008 by Gavin Green I have twice written in CAR – most recently several years ago – that Chrysler is the Rover of America. Each time the Chrysler PR boss in Detroit rang to complain. Now, as Chrysler (like Rover in 2005)... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix race report 03 November 2008 by Tom Clarkson Lewis Hamilton, world champion. It took until the last corner of the last race of the year, but at last we can write those words. Phew! Pass me a drink. Beneath this rickety old pressroom at... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix preview 31 October 2008 by Tom Clarkson Brazil is mad for this world title showdown. Pictures of Felipe Massa adorn the sides of buildings throughout Sao Paulo; Paulistas walk the streets wearing counterfeit Ferrari F1 t-shirts and even the... Read more ...
Martin Brundle: should he stay or should he go? 28 October 2008 by Andrew Franklin I read recently on F1-live.com that F1's governing body the FIA is not happy with Martin Brundle's commentary at grand prix. Word has it, the suits are trying to stymie Brundle's move from ITV to the... Read more ...
Five things a petrolhead must do before the end of the world 21 October 2008 by Gavin Green The world is about to end. The newspapers and the BBC (‘global meltdown’, ‘we’re all doomed’, ‘thousands lose their savings’) say so. The sky is falling. Henny Penny is quite clear on this. So this... Read more ...
Ford Mustang Bullitt road trip blog 20 October 2008 by Ben Pulman Day 6 - Las Vegas to LA. After our late night (!) we decide that we need a big sleep in on Sunday morning. We also come to the conclusion that we hate Las Vegas enough not to bother with the Grand... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Chinese Grand Prix race report 20 October 2008 by Tom Clarkson Got a feeling of déjà vu? Lewis Hamilton has a seven-point lead going into the final round of the World Championship, as he did last year, and the balance of power between Ferrari and McLaren is much... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Chinese Grand Prix preview 17 October 2008 by Tom Clarkson How much more can Lewis Hamilton take? After his recent penalties at Spa-Francorchamps and Fuji Speedway, the perceived wisdom in the Formula 1 paddock is that Lewis no longer knows what’s permissible... Read more ...
The psychology of being an F1 champion 17 October 2008 by Andrew Franklin After last week's Japanese Grand Prix, it appears that Lewis Hamilton is not as cool as we all thought. Although mature beyond his 23 tender years, last weekend showed us why he's not quite the full... Read more ...
Thought for the day: is Porsche a sports car maker? 17 October 2008 by Tim Pollard Which is Porsche's best-selling car? The cheapest maybe? An affordable Boxster or Cayman, say? Perhaps the bedrock of its range, the evergreen – and now 29mpg – 911? Nope, it's the Cayenne, Porsche's... Read more ...
Stephen Bayley’s latest book on cars 14 October 2008 by Gavin Green In the 35 years I’ve been reading motoring magazines, there’s been a whole bunch of writers whose words I’ve loved. From Mel Nichols’ colourful put-you-behind-the-wheel style (when I first read his... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Japanese Grand Prix race report 13 October 2008 by Tom Clarkson I’ve just got back from climbing Mount Fuji with Sebastian Vettel and Alex Wurz. What a fantastic way to spend a day, with two of the most down-to-earth racing drivers in the world on the highest... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Japanese Grand Prix preview 10 October 2008 by Tom Clarkson A fascinating sport this Formula 1. Or so the Japanese would have you believe because every evening at Fuji Speedway thousands of fans sit opposite the pits watching the teams at work. For as long as... Read more ...
The new economic landscape. By Gavin Green 09 October 2008 by Gavin Green Car sales collapse, your savings aren’t safe, 25 percent of all wild mammal species will soon be extinct, and of course the earth is now hotting up so fast that Sussex will soon be the new Sahara. And... Read more ...
Why the US car industry bail-out succeeded and Europe’s failed 08 October 2008 by Ben Oliver I don’t think I’ve ever seen the European Union make up its mind so quickly. On Monday, the European car makers’ association ACEA asked the EU for a €40 billion (£31bn) low-cost loan to help its... Read more ...
The silver lining of the economic crisis 07 October 2008 by Tim Pollard Credit is being crunched, buyers are deserting dealerships in droves and the motor industry appears to be in turmoil. These are dark days in the car market – yet I can’t help feeling you can’t beat a... Read more ...
Will Ratan Tata ring me? 03 October 2008 by Ben Pulman I met Ratan Tata yesterday. He seemed like a nice bloke. There I was, midway through my mission to cover every press conference at the Paris motor show, waiting for the Mini Crossover Concept... Read more ...
Now the dust has settled… Paris motor show 2008 analysis 03 October 2008 by Ben Oliver My Paris motor show in one word? Scary. Almost all the tens of thousands of us packed into Paris Expo’s eight halls on press day depend on the car industry for our living. So it’s pretty bloody... Read more ...
Air-con causes road rage, says Gavin Green 30 September 2008 by Gavin Green As our cars become more like hermetically sealed containers, and less like social-minded carriages, so road rage and dreadful driving and tarmac terror increase. Air conditioning, I suspect, is partly... Read more ...
Flash versus panache 29 September 2008 by Glen Waddington I spent a weekend driving an Aston Martin DBS. Lucky fella, I know. Lucky enough to expect an adverse reaction wherever I went. You can imagine the kind of thing: one-finger salutes, being snubbed at... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Singapore Grand Prix race report 29 September 2008 by Tom Clarkson It’s 3am on Monday. The Singapore Grand Prix finished five hours ago and still the lights lining the Marina Bay Circuit blaze away outside the press room. Artificial light is now the norm for F1 folk... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Singapore Grand Prix preview 26 September 2008 by Tom Clarkson This is turning out to be one weird weekend. Due to the late practice sessions and 8pm (local time) start on Sunday, the Formula 1 paddock is sticking to European time for the weekend. That means... Read more ...
Performance car of the year 2008 blogs 24 September 2008 by Car magazine Performance car of the year 2008 blogs Pilfering on PCotY By Greg Fountain Read more ...
Why we chose Wales for Performance Car of the Year 2008 24 September 2008 by Chris Chilton We like Wales. You’d like it too if you don’t already. This place is like a giant playground for the car obsessed. The scenery is epic but the roads are even better. We needed a great track for this... Read more ...
Pilfering on Performance Car of the Year 24 September 2008 by Greg Fountain Mark Bramley’s got my umbrella. Other than that, most of my possessions appear to be intact. No mean feat for a four-day Performance Car of the Year caper. Usually you can expect to lose everything... Read more ...
Locking ourselves out of a Jaguar XKRS. Three times! 24 September 2008 by Glen Waddington You can imagine the charged atmosphere, even among a bunch of hardened CAR writers. There were 29 of the most exciting cars on sale, each with their keys in, ready to roll out onto the smoothly... Read more ...
The logistics of PCotY 24 September 2008 by Ben Pulman I think I got carried away with this year’s PCotY logistics. Tasked with getting all the great performance cars of the past 12 months together for our annual extravaganza, I went a bit mad. That’s... Read more ...
Anglesey track guide, by CAR Magazine 24 September 2008 by Ben Barry The last time we ran Performance Car of The Year at Anglesey was in 2004. Back then the circuit was still based around the old service roads of this former artillery base. Shortly after, things came... Read more ...
The art of Performance Car of the Year 24 September 2008 by Andrew Franklin I have a love-hate relationship with PCoTY. I love being around so many performance cars, but when it comes to getting all the shots you see in CAR Magazine, PCoTY is quite frankly my worst... Read more ...