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48 Articles

Editor’s Letter

@jack_rix @rixjack jack.rix@bbctopgearmagazine.com Want to feel terrible about your driving abilities? I can heartily recommend a passenger lap with The Stig. Preferably after you’ve recently driven the same track in the same car. What you thought were braking zones are very much flat, plus the car appears to exist only in two distinct states – full acceleration or violent braking with a little steering for fun. It’s extraordinary and mildly depressing at the same time. And all the more astonishing because in recent years performance cars have become so outrageously, vividly fast that everything is happening at twice the speed with half the thinking time. Yet Stig remains unfazed. His commitment to extracting every last millisecond of performance from whatever he happens to be driving, be that a lawnmower or…

Editor’s Letter

Mag Subscribe at BuySubscriptions.com. Individual copies at MagsDirect.co.uk Web Head to topgear.com for your rolling hit of news, reviews, entertainment and advice Pod The stories behind the stories – subscribe now on your favourite pod provider Apple Find and follow us on the Apple News+ app, the only place to read TopGear Tech Vids Subscribe to the TopGear YouTube channel to watch the best car videos on the planet TG Turbo Sign up for free to the brand new TG Turbo email newsletter Also find us on…

The DIY 1970s F1 car

There are some historic cars that will sadly never pass through the hands of common folk like you and I. These rare, historically significant and radically experimental cars will forever remain unobtainable, squirrelled away by museums and manufacturers as mementos of bravery and madness. Unless, of course, you’re Yuji Watahiki from Mito, eastern Japan. He’s built one out of aluminium. In his shed. Easily qualifying for ‘mad rare old-timer’ is the Tyrrell P34 six wheeler Formula One car, an oddity so bizarre it only raced for two years. “The Tyrrell is the most unique of all F1 cars, so I challenged myself to build one,” says Yuji flippantly, as if justifying today’s choice of T-shirt. “I love F1 cars from the 1970s because they were all different. Today’s grid is…

The DIY 1970s F1 car

DS HAS REVEALED A TRIBUTE TO A car that… er… bankrupted Citroen back in 1974 and was the main reason for its merger with Peugeot. A hearty welcome back to the glorious Citroen SM, via the medium of a gloriously wild concept car featuring all the hits: partly enclosed rear wheels, a squat, stretched silhouette and rectangular lights at both ends. It’s also literally called the DS Tribute, built to help showcase the marque’s future design language. Sign us up. Let’s get straight into the design, where the SM’s relaxed proportions have been retained, save for the now 22in wheel size. Almost everything else has been reimagined though, from the thickness of the pillars to the shape of the roofline. The light signatures are faithful to the original, albeit with…

JASON BARLOW TG’S EDITOR AT LARGE RECKONS THIS IS WHAT THE FRENCH DO BEST A week after Renault revealed the new-not-new 17, DS unveiled the Tribute. I'm not down with playing fast and loose with the brands, and pillaging the past indicates a certain lack of imagination, but honestly, who cares when the result is this good? The original still captivates because it’s from an era when designers went slightly nuts and did cars that looked like spaceships. The new one has that sci-ft aura about it, too. Love the nose treatment, love the proportions, love the semi-spat effect on the rear wheels. And it’s not actually that retro. This is how I'll take my big electric super coupe - French and eccentric. “The Tribute has that sci-fi aura about…

1. Japan Nissan trials new cooling paint cabin tech Nissan is trialling a new paint designed to lower cabin temperatures and reduce the use of the car’s aircon system. Nissan claims that in initial tests the paint has shown a 12°C reduction in exterior surface temps and up to 5°C inside, compared with a traditional paintjob. Next up, thermal underwear. 2. USA Hot Wheels reveals toy car in need of love Hot Wheels has announced a new Not Wheels limited edition designed to celebrate the old, beaten up cars many of us started out driving. It features a cracked windscreen, mismatched panels, much rust, three wheels and the warning CAR DOES NOT ROLL. Yours for $30, which is probably not far off what the scrapper paid you for your first…

Behind the Boosh Your favourite TV gorilla Bollo is a photographer. Well, Dave Brown is. As well as donning the fuzzy suit he took some BTS snaps of the making of The Mighty Boosh. From 10–13 October in Hoxton, London World Conker Championships, 13 Oct The village of Southwick will once again be crowning the kings and queens of conkers and raising money for the visually impaired. Sign up and for £15 you could be the next world champ… Joker: Folie à Deux Released 4 October, the followup to 2019’s Joker is billed as another adult oriented, ultra violent movie. Try not to get too obsessed and turn up dressed as an escapee from Arkham Asylum Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow N Fire 2025 Did you get your Oasis…

JESKO ATTACKS The latest fastmobile from Koenigsegg is not just fast, itís ërearrange your faceí fast. Ollie Marriage drew the short straw and came away with a permanent smile when he drove it on the TG track THEORY TEST OK, so itís just a concept and it has a ridiculous name, but this is the car that Lotus hopes will ignite a passion for its products in the younger generation. From what weíve seen, that should be entirely achievable BOSS CHAT REMATCH Remember our chat with the supercar bosses? Well, they (and we, and you guys) enjoyed shooting the breeze so much we organised another meetup. And got them to drive each otherís cars… VANQUISHED The new Aston Martin Vanquish is a thing of rare beauty. And not inconsiderable technology.…

THE GOOD Be interesting to see what impact one clever man can have on an organisation’s performance Chris Heap Well done sir Neal Saddington Congrats to AM for winning the 2026 championship and hopefully Alonso for the 3rd drivers’ championship James Zhao GREAT THAT HE DOESN’T GO TO MERCEDES OR FERRARI Johan Hauben The man who can extract the most from any given machinery, plus the man who can design winning cars in his sleep VonBlade THE BAD Aston Martin won’t win anything while Lance Stroll still occupies one of the seats TBP So I am guessing Lawrence Stroll’s offer of all the money in the universe helped persuade Newey Teabag Towers Gonna take more than Newey to ensure an Aston championship LC White THIS IS WHERE ALONSO MAKES ANOTHER…

Out of this world

ALFA ROMEO’S OG DISCO VOLANTE is quite rightly on loads of best looking cars of all time lists. And coming from an alien curious 1950s, the flying saucer car landed at the perfect time. Cars are not the only things to channel the spaceship look. There is a type of watch called Disco Volante that actually pre-dates the Alfa. The style first appeared in the 1930s, and integrates both crown and strap to give a perfectly round case. Over the years the watch has been riffed on by lots of brands. Gerald Genta, the most famous watch designer bar none, is credited with a version. Notable Disco Volantes by fancy names like Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin have gold cases and are highly sought by collectors. If the Disco Volante…

Out of this world

EPIC FAIL SCION

How do you do, fellow kids? In 2003, Toyota’s hip ’n’ happening youth brand Scion sauntered onto the US market – skateboard over shoulder, baseball cap jauntily askew – aiming to elicit a feverish OMG from the millennial crowd who viewed the Toyota badge as impossibly geriatric. But barely a decade later, Scion was dead. What happened? Things started brightly. Scion offered, initially at least, some interestingly boxy designs, a youth focused range of options and accessories (exhaust kits! Decals! Tamagotchi holders! OK we made the last one up!) and a no haggle price policy, because if there’s one thing the youth hate more than anything in the world, it’s an extended conversation about money with some dude in his 50s. The kids were on board. In 2004, Toyota announced…

EPIC FAIL SCION

THRILLS WITHOUT THE BILLS

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA What is it? A basic 911 Carrera lists at £99,800 incl VAT, with 390-ish bhp and 183mph top. Same silhouette as other 911s, similar cachet. Why are we interested? Because the best thing about a basic 911 is that it’s engineered for the GT3 RS. So you get 75 per cent of the vibes, for £92k cheaper. How many were made? Unlimited. No price war flipping and investment wars with a basic 911. Even new it’s £35,800 less than the GTS. Good residuals, too. Costs? Is a GT3 RS on a normal road really 90 per cent better per pound than the Carrera? We’d argue no. In fact, it’s easier to play with more of the time.…

THRILLS WITHOUT THE BILLS

THIS MONTH: DRIVING TESTS 1. Where’s the best place to take a driving test? A driving test centre. Oh, you mean which part of the country? In which case, Cornwall. Not because it’s got the highest pass rates or quietest roads, but because, if you fail, at least you’ve got lovely views and consolation pasties. 2. Can I do my driving test in my own car? Legally, yes. Practically, if, as an 18-year-old, you rock up to your driving test in a Lambo Revuelto, the examiner will assume you’re a spoiled brat, and will likely fail you. Rock up in your Suzuki Celerio, and the examiner will be overcome by the deep sadness that afflicts anyone in the presence of a Suzuki Celerio, and will likely fail you. Rock up…

The S2000 from a parallel universe

WHO AMONG US WOULDN’T LOVE TO live in an alternate car universe? Imagine getting behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Sonic ZR1 or a Rotary Miata or a Ford Focus RS (actually, that was brought to the States, and our spines are still recuperating). Likewise, imagine a Honda S2000 Type R. Honda/Acura didn’t offer a true, rebadged version of its roadster, at least not on our astral plane. That’s no surprise for Americans – we were never treated to the Type R bounty the way Japan and the UK were. Still, Hondaheads the world over clamoured for an S2000 Type R right up until the last AP2 left the factory in 2009, and no, the late period Club Racer/Type S version wasn’t it. That’s where SoCal-based tuning shop Evasive Motorsports…

The S2000 from a parallel universe

IF YOU’RE DRIVING ALONG A STRAIGHT stretch of road at moderate speed and you switch the adaptive dampers from comfort to sport, nothing should change. Not if the dampers are truly adaptive. Because in a straight line they shouldn’t need to firm up (at least if the car isn’t heaving and pitching excessively). But they nearly always do. Because going straight and gently is the exact circumstance when you can most easily look down and find the button or screen menu. So the engineers know that you’ll want to feel a difference, justifying the money you spent on the option. Adaptive dampers, see, adapt. The clue’s in the name. If they have no need to be stiff, they should remain soft, as on a gently straight road. Then when you turn…

THE VAPOURWARE FILES

What is it? The Netherlands has produced a multiple F1 champion of some repute. Why shouldn’t it have its own supercar industry as well? Thanks to ex-plumber and motorsport fanatic Robert Cobben, it tried to in 2013 with this Le Mans inspired wedge powered (inevitably) by a mid-mounted 6.2-litre Corvette V8 tuned to some 633bhp. Did they actually build any? We believe at least two were constructed: a widely exhibited sky blue example and a lesser seen candy red one. But the planned ramp-up from five or six cars a year to a heady maximum of 12 units annually (at £250k a pop) doesn’t seem to have been as reliable as a Verstappen victory in F1. Where are they now? The website’s dormant, the ‘news’ tab leads to an error…

THE VAPOURWARE FILES

TOP 9 CARS CREATED BY ONE PERSON’S VISION

MCLAREN F1 – GORDON MURRAY The F1 was the fastest road legal car ever when unveiled in 1992, but its three-seat layout came from a sketch Gordon Murray had penned in college in the 1960s. Murray’s manifesto for the Fl included an obsession with weight reduction and tactility. ARIEL ATOM – SIMON SAUNDERS Simon Saunders worked as a car designer for Porsche, Aston and GM, but in the 1990s he turned his dream of building a ‘new Lotus 7’ into a reality. Launched in 1999, the Atom was built to take advantage of the growing track day market. BUGATTI VEYRON – FERDINAND PIECH In 1997 Piech sketched an idea for an 18-cylinder engine. Hethen purchased Bugatti and drove its relocation back to Molsheim. The Veyron did end up with only…

TOP 9 CARS CREATED BY ONE PERSON’S VISION

MIKE’S CHANNEL

Q: ARE ARCADE RACING MACHINES DEAD? If you’re familiar with the little retro videogame section squirrelled away in the back of this very magazine (p111), you may have noticed I have a particular fondness for 1990s arcade racing games. To me they represent the golden age of arcade gaming – the era of Daytona USA, Ridge Racer and Sega Rally – where smooth and colourful 3D graphics blew away whatever pixel-pushing 16-bit console you had parked under the telly. In fact, the technology that powered Daytona USA and Sega Rally in particular was adapted from cutting edge military tech developed by Lockheed Martin, though I’m told that’s not a good enough reason to describe war as ‘not all bad’. It might not have occurred to us at the time, but…

GAME OF THE MONTH

TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED SDLAR CROWN £50, PlayStation/Xbox/PC If you’re not familiar with the Test Drive Unlimited series, which hasn’t had a new entry in 13 years, you might be unaware that it essentially pioneered the open world online racing genre now dominated by Forza Horizon and The Crew. The ingredients are right for the new game. Solar Crown is set in a roughly 1:1 scale Hong Kong, which turns out to be the perfect setting for an open world racer. The combination of tight city streets and winding mountain passes offers plenty of variety, and every corner of the map feels hand crafted. It’s just a shame the graphics can’t keep up, on consoles in particular this looks like a game from a decade ago. Handling wise it’s a strange…

GAME OF THE MONTH

Has there ever been a bigger waste of money than the bizarre mission to create fully autonomous vehicles? A as there ever been a bigger waste of money than the technology that nobody asked for and that – if it ever came to pass – would destroy the very companies throwing good money after bad to force it into existence. Think about it. If autonomous vehicles worked reliably and could be proved by some spurious system to be safer than human beings, how long do you think it would take for governments to ban us from being in charge of piloting our own vehicles? And once your car is just a box to transport you, why would you care about the history of the company who built it? About its…

Holland was a first for me – the first Grand Prix I was trolled at, online that is. “Maybe you’re not asking the tough questions often enough,” I hear you say, anyone who does surely gets trolled frequently – it’s the nature of the beast – the beast that is social media. I have certainly tried to make a point throughout my F1 broadcast career of rarely offering my opinion in front of camera. I am, after all, the conduit for others (more qualified – having actually driven F1 cars for a living) to do so. Instead, my job is to ask the questions the fans want answers for. This all came about because I questioned why Red Bull had decided to stick with Sergio Perez after the summer break,…

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It’s 5:45am and five new Ferraris are parked up, headlights playing high tech tricks with the rain. That’s 60 cylinders and 32,480cc. You would expect that lot to generate quite the cacophony but they’ve settled into a surprisingly subdued idling beat. What gives? Ferrari’s chief development driver, the amiable but heroically rapid Raffaele de Simone, was on hand last night to do the briefing, so the prospect of jumping into £400k’s worth of hot new Italian supercar before the first coffee of the day is marginally less intimidating. Yet regular Ferrari watchers will know that the company’s approach to ergonomics is idiosyncratic. There are fighter aircraft whose cockpits are easier to master. “I know how much you love the capacitive switchgear in our cars,” Raffa joked. “We have made some…

FUTURE FERRARIS

1 Return of the king! If you happen to be reading this anywhere near Enzo Ferrari’s grave, may we suggest you clear the area, because he’s about to spin up like one of Elon Musk’s boring machines. According to highly reliable sources, who were in no way paid in pints of lager and pork scratchings, the final Ferrari to be signed off by Enzo himself could be immortalised/spoiled forever in a limited run modernised tribute… and our digital artists have been beavering away imagining how a 2024 F40 could look. Rumours suggest it’ll follow the Monza SP1/SP2 (812 Superfast based windscreenless missile inspired by the 750 Monza and 166MM from the 1950s) and Daytona SP3 (very slatty tribute to sports prototypes from the 1960s, based on a LaFerrari with the…

FUTURE FERRARIS

TOPGEAR’S FERRARI HYPERCAR NAME GENERATOR!

How to play • Choose a number between 1 & 5 • Choose a number between 1 & 10 • Choose a number between 249 and 999 • Choose another number between 1 & 10 • Finally, another number between 1 & 5 Now apply all those numbers to the table opposite. For example, if you picked 1, 8, 346, 9 and 2… your Ferrari hypercar is the Ferrari LaTesta346 GTO Ultraquick. Please be advised TopGear does not accept any responsibility for you or your family being sued for copyright if you accidentally guess the correct name of the new Ferrari. It could happen…

TOPGEAR’S FERRARI HYPERCAR NAME GENERATOR!

URBAN OUTWITTERS

Friends, the death of the city car has not been greatly exaggerated. In the past couple of years Ford, Vauxhall, VW, Skoda, Seat, Peugeot, Renault – heck, even Smart – have all exited the scene. The reasons aren’t complicated. Tiny cars demand carefully managed prices to maintain their wafer thin margins – they’re not routinely specced up with forged carbon dashboards, shag pile leather and 37 speakers. That was manageable until legislation demanded anti-collision radar, drowsiness sensors, lane keep assist and had to withstand the same crash test as a three tonne ubertruck. Then there’s the propulsion. Trying to profitably package a useful electric drivetrain into a city runabout is like expecting a Jack Russell to romp the Grand National. So, we end up in a bizarre world where governments…

URBAN OUTWITTERS

STIG LAPS are back

It’s a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years – you’d think – a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world. But our little test track at Dunsfold Park, sketched out across the runways and taxiways of the aerodrome by test drivers from Lotus, is very possibly the most universally known track layout in the world. Ask a randomer in the street to name some famous turns from premier racetracks and if you’re lucky they’ll give you Copse or the Corkscrew. But ask them which track features Chicago, Gambon and Hammerhead? No contest. The TopGear test track served three purposes during…

STIG LAPS are back

Koenigsegg Jesko Attack

PRICE: £2.85m ENGINE: 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 1,578bhp, 1,106lb ft TRANSMISSION: 9spd LST, RWD PERFORMANCE: 0–62mph in 2.6secs, 300mph+ WEIGHT: 1,420kg TIME TARGET: The original CC was (spun) across the line in 1min 23.9secs by OG Stig – so it’d better be a heck of a lot faster thanks to 20 years of progress The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn’t accelerate like one. I’ve gone on record before as saying there’s not much faster than a McLaren 750S or Ferrari 296GTB, there’s not really anything beyond that level of performance. Boy was I wrong. It takes a 296 GTB 5.5secs to accelerate from 100 to 150mph. The Jesko does it in little more than half that. Above…

Koenigsegg Jesko Attack

Ford Supervan 4.2

PRICE: N/A ENGINE: Four e-motors, 50kWh battery, 2000bhp+, 1,239lb ft TRANSMISSION: Single speed, 4WD PERFORMANCE: 0–62mph <2.0secs, 205mph WEIGHT: 1,684kg TIME TARGET: We’re looking firmly at the non road legal part of the leaderboard for this one. The Renault R24 F1 car’s 0:59 time is safe, but can a van really beat a McLaren 720S GT3X (1:07.2) or Caparo T1 (1:10.6)? The Ford Supervan 4.2 is, in essence, a ‘lightly modified’ electric Ford Transit with four motors and over 2,000bhp. It has carbon ceramic brakes and forged magnesium wheels and slick tyres, which means either Stig is about to break the world record for most Amazon parcels delivered in a minute, or we’re about to see the laws of physics bent in new and interesting ways. The ‘4.2’ denotes this…

Ford Supervan 4.2

Aston Martin Valkyrie

PRICE: £2.5m ENGINE: 6.5-litre nat-asp V12 + e-motor, 1,139bhp, 681lb ft TRANSMISSION: 7spd seq, RWD PERFORMANCE: 0–60mph <3.0secs, 220mph+ WEIGHT: 1,270kg (dry) TIME TARGET: One target, pure and simple: to swat the Ferrari SF90 off its perch as the quickest ever road legal car to lap the TG track. Time to beat: 1:11.3. If it doesn’t munch that then either Stig or our calculators need a reboot… The Aston Martin Valkyrie still looks like nothing else on four wheels. Probably because it isn’t. This is Aston Martin’s F1 car for the road and track. Designed by Adrian Newey, it has a Cosworth 6.5-litre V12 engine that screams to over 11,000rpm, but it also has an e-motor in the seven-speed sequential gearbox for a total of 1,139bhp. Weight? Just 1,270kg dry.…

Aston Martin Valkyrie

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

PRICE: £192,600 ENGINE: 4.0-litre flat six, 518bhp, 343lb ft TRANSMISSION: 7spd PDK, RWD PERFORMANCE: 0–62mph in 3.2secs, 184mph WEIGHT: 1,450kg TIME TARGET: Nothing quite as spicy as a domestic, so let’s put the 991 GT2 RS that set a 1:13.4 back in 2019 in the crosshairs. Yes, the GT2 RS has 172 more horsepower than the new GT3 RS, but the new kid has oodles more downforce – what will win, power or aero? Simply the most extreme, aero obsessed, track focused Porsche 911 to ever wear numberplates. A mighty 860kg of downforce at 177mph is the headline, but not the whole aero story because it’s covered in active bits, too. There’s hydraulically actuated DRS at the back in that enormous swan-neck rear wing, moving flaps hidden in the front,…

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

PRICE: £77,940 ENGINE: 2.0-litre turbo 4cyl, 400bhp, 369lb ft TRANSMISSION: 6spd seq paddleshift, RWD PERFORMANCE: 0–62mph in 2.7secs, 170mph WEIGHT: 700kg TIME TARGET: Thirteen years ago a first gen Atom fitted with a 500bhp V8, a sprinkling of downforce and weighing very little rocked up at the TG track and blitzed it in 1:15.1. This new one might have an inferior power to weight ratio and half the cylinders, but brakes, tyres and aero have come a long way… can it slay one of its own? This angry looking assortment of wings and scaffolding poles is the Ariel Atom 4R, and it’s the second wildest incarnation of the cheek flapping Atom to date. Here we have a 400bhp version of the Honda Civic Type R’s 2.0-litre turbo engine – that’s…

PRICE: £850k ENGINE: 3.1-litre flat six, 350bhp, 11,000rpm TRANSMISSION: 6spd manual, RWD PERFORMANCE: n/a WEIGHT: 846kg TIME TARGET: Do we really care? By Tuthill’s own admission this is a car designed primarily to be enjoyed on a B-road, between 40–80mph, not a track. Still, Stig only knows one driving style – flat out and fearless – so hearing him ping it off the limiter and heel-and-toe it into corners will be a victory whatever the clock says It’s called the 911K, it’s loosely based on a 1972 911, and it’s the work of Tuthill Porsche, a company most famous for building the world’s best rally prepped classic 911s. This though, is something entirely different – it’s the ultimate purist’s Porsche, with a little dash of psychopath thrown in. Every single…

PRICE: Blank cheque ENGINE: 5.0-litre s/c V8, 600bhp TRANSMISSION: 6spd seq, RWD PERFORMANCE: n/a WEIGHT: 1,500kg TIME TARGET: There was a time when a mid-engined supercar with 600bhp weighing 1,500kg represented pant-wetting performance, but these days it’s merely mildly fast. Especially when the chassis is designed to drive down stairs without shaking itself to bits and pitch sideways at the slightest provocation. If it makes in round in one piece it’ll be a result You might know it as the Jaguar C-X75, a gorgeous hypercar proposal from 2010 that was due to make production, before being cancelled by the bean counters, much to everyone’s disappointment. Originally, it was shown with a carbon monocoque, a high-revving 1.6-litre engine and electric motors, and even micro jets as range extenders. But this car…

THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

What you’re looking at is definitively not a new Lotus road car. It’s a pure concept called the Theory 1, a car that seeks to distill traditional Lotus values into a vehicle that’s also woven marrow deep with technology, a bit of creative free space for designers to figure out what Lotus actually stands for. A difficult question to answer when the technology is apparently sprinting in the opposite direction to what many would consider established Lotus values. Timely stuff, too, given that Lotus’ past two launches have consisted of two flavours of the same car in the Eletre large SUV and Emeya tall saloon, and good as they are, they’re big, heavy, tech-tilted luxury electric cars built in China, released in China before Europe and based on Chinese platforms.…

THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

“OH, I COULD GET USED TO THIS.” I’ve just shown Jenn how to operate the EX90’s massage seats. “That is so good,” chips in her friend Lex. It’s the only time the pair of them have sat still. They’ve investigated every nook and cranny of Volvo’s new electric SUV, from the 34-litre frunk (“not big enough, I couldn’t get a cooler in there”), to clambering into the rearmost row (“I’d be happy here for a short journey”), even counted every cupholder (“that’s all of them?! That is not enough. And they are too small for a sports cup”). And overall? “Y’know I wasn’t expecting it to be so big inside. It looks pretty small on the outside.” The EX90 is over five metres long, but Lex drives a Ford Expedition.…

BOSS LEVEL: PART TWO

Christian von Koenigsegg and Mate Rimac are in the back seats. John Hennessey was fastest to our BMW hire car and wangled the front seat next to me. I’m driving. The consequences of having an off are unthinkable. Unplug these three and Instagram car channels would be empty of content, hypercar forums would have nothing to debate and exotic car buyers would be forced to limit themselves to cars from Gordon Murray and Horacio Pagani. Who were both meant to be here incidentally, but instead had to send their apologies. Gordon, Horacio, you’re both much missed – next time. Maybe they’d heard about my driving. I’m doing a track guide for the bosses before they go out and drive each other’s cars. Trouble is I’ve never been to Sonoma Raceway…

BOSS LEVEL: PART TWO

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SAVE 54% Try a whole year subscription to BBC TopGear magazine for £32.99 GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE ◼ Pay just £32.99 for 12 issues, saving 54% on the usual shop price ◼ Unique and collectable covers – only seen by our subscribers ◼ Get your copy before it hits the shops and never miss an issue! SUBSCRIBING IS EASY. SIMPLY GO ONLINE, CALL OR SCAN SCAN ME buysubscriptions.com/TGP1124 03330 162 130 and quote TGP1124** *This offer is subject to availability via direct debit only, and valid for UK delivery addresses only. This offer closes 27 November 2024. You will pay £32.99 every 12 issues - saving 54% on the usual shop price. All savings are calculated as a percentage of the full shop price. Should the magazine ordered change in…

ENJOY ONE YEAR FOR £32.99

There’s a kind of involuntary tic that comes with anyone mentioning a restomod Porsche these days, yet another 911 claiming to be honed, reimagined, bespoke. Money and ideas thrown, sometimes quite randomly, at an above average base, aiming to elevate. And they all seem to cost the kind of cash that would see most of us homeless a couple of times over. At least. But for all the myriad companies messing with 911s, Fifteen Eleven Design caught the TG eye, simply because it decided to turn its attentions to the 914. A choice that’s interesting in itself, the 914 being the mid-engined, targa-topped, budget co-production between VW and Porsche back in the late 1960s and 1970s. A car that hasn’t been on the most wanted list for quite a while.…

Car ads that time forgot

BMW 2000, 1970S That time we… TOOK A TRIP ON FERRUCCIO LAMBORGHINI’S V12 BOAT When Lamborghini announces that it has built its last ever non-hybrid V12, how are you supposed to react? We felt a sombre funeral probably wasn’t very Lamborghini, so why not source some other V12s for a bit of a party? Oh, and nobody said they had to be fitted to cars… Turns out back in the 1960s Ferruccio Lamborghini ordered a Riva Aquarama and had it fitted with two of his Bizzarrini-designed, Dallara-tuned 4.0-litre V12s for some extra oomph over the usual twin V8 setup. Each engine made over 350bhp and as a result, Ferruccio’s Riva was the fastest ever built. Unfortunately, after 20 years Mr Lamborghini sold his boat and the *ahem* rather unreliable V12s…

Car ads that time forgot

AM General Humvee

DO/DON’T MEET YOUR HEROES $10,000+ 6.2 V8 160 bhp n/a secs n/a mpg 2,500 kg est HERO Dictionary definition of tough, surprisingly easy to drive ZERO Slow, noisy and drinks diesel, but it’s all the better for it WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A GENUINE AM General High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV for short. Although because that’s hardly a catchy abbreviation, it’s colloquially known as the Humvee. And no, it’s not a Hummer – that was the brand name used for civilian versions and was eventually sold to General Motors in the late 1990s. Got it? In the late 1970s the US army wanted a single vehicle that could replace the 1950s M151 and a number of other larger trucks. It set out draft specifications and three companies…

AM General Humvee

HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO

The view reflected in the new Vantage’s wing mirrors is glorious. Broad shoulders, wide as a powerlifter’s, yet shapely and sculpted. A reminder, every time you glance in the mirror, that you’re driving something muscular and powerful. There’s something else, too. The unblinking glare of a baleful headlight. Ah yes, that’ll be the Porsche 911 Turbo S tucked up behind. It won’t be shaken off, not a chance. Were this a contest of speed alone, it’d be over before it began. The 4WD Porsche has traction the rear drive Aston can only dream of. It slingshots out of corners, not wasting a single horsepower in its quest to hurl you down the road. But that’s not all it’s about, is it? Cars like this should be an event to drive,…

HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO

SCAN HERE FOR FULL REVIEWS OF EVERY NEW CAR DACIA SPRING £16,995 26.8 kWh 64 bhp 13.7 secs 78 mph 142 miles JUST WHAT WE’VE WANTED – a cheap, light, effcient EV. It’s not for everyone, but will do the job nicely for enough people. Range, etc, could of course be better, but that’s not the point of this sub-tonne EV. It’s weirdly fun – between trying to preserve momentum and laughing at the body roll it’s almost like being back in a 2CV. Similar spec in the entry version, but upper trim gets some mod cons. SB SMART #3 PREMIUM £39,950 66 kWh 268 bhp 5.8 secs 112 mph 283 miles OFTEN THE SWEET SPOT IN A car’s range is in the middle – not too little, not too much,…

INCLUDING GO TO TOPGEAR.COM FOR EXTENDED TG GARAGE REPORTS, AND TO EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE GOODBYE “ We arranged a meeting with its 514bhp turbocharged grandad” PORSCHE CAYENNE S COUPE £88,100 OTR/£113,484 as tested/£1,982 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: Is Porsche’s big SUV still a game changer 20 years on? DRIVER: ROWAN HORNCASTLE HAVING CLOCKED UP OVER 12,000 miles (including commutes, monster roadtrips, track days, and off-road adventures), I can confidently say I’ve wrung every last drop out of the Porsche Cayenne’s capabilities. In fact, the only thing I regretfully didn’t use effectively was the tow bar. But to truly grasp how far the Cayenne has come in its 20 odd years and 1.25 million sales, before I said farewell I thought I’d introduce our car to its ancestor – the Cayenne…

CARS WE ONCE OWNED THAT STOLE OUR HEARTS FOREVER LAND ROVER SERIES IIA 1968 WRITTEN BY: TOM FORD WHAT ELSE WE’RE RUNNING REPORT 2 FORD RANGER RAPTOR Raptor life is fun. But frustrating. Fun because it’s got character in abundance and it’s easy to appreciate that it is a highly evolved machine with a very specific purpose. So it feels special all the time. Frustrating because Baja is 5,507 miles from my house. Need to find somewhere to let it loose ASAP…JB REPORT 5 ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QV In a bold display of irony, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, a 512bhp all-wheel-drive SUV, got stage fright as it struggled for traction on a steep driveway. Do we blame it on those Pirelli P Zeros and the rear biased AWD system?…

A moment of Triumph as Andy rescues his Herald from his dad’s garage

THE FRANKLIN FILES WHAT IS IT? This Triumph Herald Convertible was our art editor’s first car. Ignored for nearly 20 years, he’s decided to bring it back to life WRITER: ANDY FRANKLIN WELCOME TO MY PERSONAL project car, and possibly the project with the longest lifespan of anything in the TG Garage, spanning about 30 years. Having passed my test aged 17 in 1995 and wanting to own a car but with zero funds, I managed to persuade my dad to buy me a Triumph Herald Convertible 13/60 for £1,500. As a boy he’d grown up with them, so I knew he’d rather buy me that than a more modern hot hatch of the day like a Peugeot 205. In hindsight this may have been an error. After serving me…

A moment of Triumph as Andy rescues his Herald from his dad’s garage

FOR ALL THE FACTS, STATS AND IN-DEPTH REVIEWS FOR EVERY NEW CAR ON SALE GO TO TOPGEAR.COM/REVIEWS CITY CARS TG TIP The £16k Top spec offers fun faux-4x4 styling and such luxuries as CarPlay. Treat yourself FIAT PANDA PRICE: £14,775–£17,775 It’s been on sale since 2011, but the endlessly upgraded Panda represents modern city car perfection that can’t be topped. It’s light, fun, cheap to run and feels surprisingly roomy once you’re inside. You’d hate to be its electric replacement… Aimed at: anyone who’ll still buy one OR YOU COULD HAVE ONE OF THESE… KIA PICANTO PRICE: £15,595–£19,145 Fizzy, frugal and fun to drive, the tiny Picanto even got a welcome style injection when it was facelifted in 2023. Surprisingly generous kit levels, too Aimed at: canny pensioners, new drivers…

You don’t need to be an expert to know that a car seat does not look like a cow, but how does it get there? We spoke to Ryan Boyce, from the leather experts at Bridge of Weir in Scotland, where some of the fanciest carmakers get their leather from. You’d think fancy cows would be the order of the day, right? “The best source of cattle for automotive leather manufacturing are those which have been well cared for,” explains Ryan. “Breed plays a less important role than you might think, but the husbandry and welfare on the farms from which they are reared are what really makes the difference.” But surely a bit of sun cream and moisturiser is needed for that supple finish? Well, no, but our terrible…

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