BMW has successfully spun almost every ounce of marketability from its MINI family since the marque was re-imagined back in 2001.
The John Cooper Works Coupé: sportscar or a MINI playing at being one?
So elastic is its small car image that there are now three model ranges that never appeared in the original line-up, yet all, even the MINI XXL (or Countryman as they insist it’s called), have been not just accepted but embraced, positively whizzing out of the showrooms.
The Coupé is not the prettiest addition to the MINI collection but it’s one that’s been honed to produce the most focused driving experience yet. A promise that is further teased by the John Cooper Works badge on the tailgate.
Volkswagen n. [Trans. Peoplescar]: 1945 onwards – a car designed to be purchased and owned inexpensively enough to mobilise nations.
How refreshing that after years of a relentless march further upmarket with limousines and full-sized SUVs that Volkswagen is returning to its roots and has developed a world-class small car offering. Enter the up!
Volkswagen has turned the flair dial up to 11 with the up!
Yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, check out the tailgate badge on VW’s smallest offering – the lower case ‘u’ and the exclamation mark are supposed to be there, so bear with me if this review looks a grammatical mess.
up! (see what I mean?) is one of a trio of city cars launched simultaneously by the Volkswagen group, all of which are going on sale in the UK about now. Unique nose, tail and trim designs help differentiate the threesome, available as this Volkswagen as well as the SEAT Mii and Škoda Citigo.
The up! range starts at just under £8000 for the introductory Take up! model with 59bhp , so does it make sense tipping the scales at £10,390 in top drawer High up! form?
Hyundai isn’t going to be the first name that springs to mind when your mind’s conjuring up brands with a sporty heritage, which is perhaps why its newest coupé, the Veloster, treads an unfamiliar path in the styling department.
An aggressive version of the Hyundai face graces the Veloster
The Korean brand has forayed into coupédom before of course, with the snoringly dull Scoupe of the early 1990s, followed by two generations of the much more fancied but unimaginatively titled Coupé, the later model having more than a passing resemblance to Ferrari’s 456. If you half-closed your eyes.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ Test Day was originally conceived as an opportunity for swathes of regional motoring journalists to get their hands on all manner of obscure and exotic machinery that had passed them by over the preceding twelve months.
Rolls-Royce, a name that transcends the confines of motoring to become synonymous with ‘the best of…’ any type of product or service.
Just five years after its first cars were produced 1906, Rolls-Royce immodestly described itself as builders of ‘The Best Car in the World’ in its advertising materials. A manufacturer’s PR spin is one thing but when did it enter the consciousness of the general public to begin to recognise Rolls-Royce as a symbol of ultimate finery?
Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II – Best Car in the World?
Charlie Chaplin’s back catalogue might initially sound like an unlikely source of confirmation (and it may well not be the earliest example caught on film) but his 1931 classic City Lights provides a definite example of Rolls-Royce’s luxury status.
If you’re not familiar with City Lights, firstly you really ought to redress this element of lacking in your life as soon as possible. Secondly, it helps to know it was Chaplin’s last silent film and was released at a time when ‘talkies’ were rapidly growing in popularity. Although there was an accompanying musical score and various sound effects, the strength of the visual imagery was of paramount importance to convey an unambiguous understanding of emotions and reference points to the viewer.
Without spoilers, the story is of Chaplin’s anonymous tramp falling in love with a blind girl selling flowers on the street. She mistakenly takes him for a high class gentleman, a facade Chaplin is able to comply with after befriending a drunkard of a millionaire. Now, watch the scene below:
The joke, beyond the slapstick element of Chaplin’s a tramp kicking another down-on-his-luck chap out of the way to grab the last few draws on an expensive cigar, is that to all intents and purposes, Chaplin appears to be the epitome of wealth. How so? He’s wearing expensive attire, although it’s ill-fitting, so it can’t be that. No, the clinching element that represents affluence is the car. The humour of the scene can only work on all its levels because a Rolls-Royce was understood to symbolise opulence.
Personal parallels with Chaplin’s tramp were not lost on me as I travelled in a Rolls-Royce, wearing an ill-fitting suit and enjoying expensive cigars at the first drive experience of the recently unveiled Phantom Series II. The befitting location wasn’t an American metropolis but instead the stunning surroundings of la Côte d’Azur, playground of the hyper-rich and famous.
If you appreciate the finer aspects of life, you may well find yourself green with jealousy over Nigel Wonnacott’s job title and the kind of work it entails.
Nigel Wonnacott explains how Rolls-Royce customers demand the very best – but without compromise
You see, Nigel’s the Product PR Manager at Rolls-Royce, which means he’s spent the past fortnight working by extolling the virtues of the newly-launched Phantom Series II to the world’s press. If that wasn’t tough enough, this has all taken place in the arduous surroundings of the exclusive le Cap Estel retreat, just down the coast from Monaco. You get the picture.
Glamour aside, Nigel’s breadth of knowledge marks him out as a car enthusiast; his background as both an automotive journalist and PR expert confirm it. For a brand as iconic as Rolls-Royce, this is wholly reassuring.
In a candid interview Nigel shares his thoughts on the Phantom Series II, EVs, Maybach and the possible resurrection of the Corniche nameplate.
