The Guardian was an unlikely medium for a sports car feature. In 1969 I was its motor racing correspondent, a contributor to its motoring column and now that Morgan has made its last V8, here is what I wrote about its first. I drove to Malvern to try out the first demo Plus 8, along with Autocar’s Eoin Young. I don’t expect The Guardian, or me would write about “a masculine car” any more. This was half a century ago.
Read MoreBentley centenary
Aged 30 at the height of Word War 1, WO Bentley was supervising production of his 24.9 litre BR2 rotary aero engine. Already a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), a cadre of civilian volunteers, which had quick means of promoting wartime officers in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) he had been sent to Derby, where Rolls-Royce made air-cooled Renault aero engines, to meet Ernest W Hives (later Lord Hives) with whom he formed a bond lasting twenty years.
Read MoreDutch Grand Prix 1967
I asked Facebook and Twitter about this picture. That’s me behind Jim Clark’s Lotus photographing its new engine during practice at Zandvoort. I started commenting on it then mis-keyed and couldn’t find where it came from, but delving into my photographic archive I was pleased to find the pictures I was taking that day (below - Jim Clark’s legs on the right) in front of the Lotus pit.
Read MoreVorsprung durch Project Fear
Vorsprung durch Project Fear
Audi Lincoln was right. I have a problem with my A3’s Dunlop Maxx tyres. It was a bit like Mark Carney’s “scenarios”, or a greedy consultant urging surgery and I was sure I didn’t need to part with £456. But it raised questions 1) Will Audi and Dunlop call in a batch of tyres made in 2017? 2) Do Audi owners question alarmist videos? 3) Are the rules on redress for faulty tyres adequate?
Read MoreMG Fail. Nissan Won
MG gave away secrets to Japan. Four years after the sleek EX-E prototype was shown at Frankfurt, I tested a Nissan 200SX. Austin-Rover was broke in 1985 and EX-E rests a museum piece at Gaydon, milk spilt in the dog days of British Leyland. A reminder of how inept politicians were at trying to run industry.
EX-E was not forgotten at Nissan.
Read MoreVirtue Signalling Electric Vehicles
Sometimes you need Jeremy Clarkson: “Jaguar Land Rover delivery people: Don’t come to London to pick up the iPace tomorrow. I couldn’t charge it so it’s not there,” he tweeted. He could have phoned them. It was his way of drawing attention to the electric fervour engulfing car people. The virtue-signalling of spin doctors pleading with us to embrace cars with batteries.
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