The sun! It’s up there! We’ve seen brief flashes of it this week, and none of you can say we haven’t. Honest. Anyway, to celebrate, why not crack open a cold one and settle down to enjoy our weekly run-down of the things that have mattered (and some of the things that haven’t) in our world this last week?
With the New York Motor Show in full swing, is it any surprise that we’ve had a fair old dose of muscle cars this week? No, not really. And it doesn’t get much more muscular than Shelby’s bonkers 1,200hp Mustang, of which we’ve had a double helping, first when the new model
was announced
, and then when Dan caught up with it
at the show
. New York’s also brought news of the new
Camaro Z/28
, while closer to home we’ve caught up with a PHer who
lives the American dream
every day. Australia’s been getting in on the act, too, with Vauxhall’s antipodean muscle car, the VXR8, sprouting an
estate derivative
There’s been a glut of Audi-related news this week. First and foremost, we’ve had the official unveiling of the
A3 and S3 saloons
over in New York, followed closely by the news that Audi will be entering the
US DTM
series that’s currently being planned. Monkey got in on the act, too, with his addition of an
S4 Avant
to his fleet, and for all those PHers who prefer their Audis older and more unhinged, we brought you a Time For Tea that featured the
S1 Sport Quattro
Renault made it onto the PH homepage not once, but twice this week, firstly with Chris Harris’s video review of the new
Clio 200 Turbo
. The next day, images and video of a
new rear-drive Renault
hot hatch concept likely to make its debut at Goodwood surfaced, giving us cause to cheer loudly. Not to be outdone, Peugeot has allowed us to drive the
208 GTI
, its latest attempt to revive the magic of the 205 GTI. Has it worked? We’re not convinced.
Three big show cars have been in the news this week. First up we’ve had the
WRX Concept
from Subaru, a truly fantastic looking thing that had us on our knees begging Subaru to make it and sell it here. We’ve also had news that the Alfa Gloria that we saw at the Geneva show, or a car inspired by it,
might make it into production
with Maserati underpinnings. And finally, Jaguar’s big news at New York was the
XKR-S GT
, an extremely limited run of super-hardcore track specials capable of lapping the Nurburgring in under 7min41sec.
So, what else have we seen on PH this week? How’s about the rather exciting news that Ariel’s developing a
titanium frame
, in its quest for the ultimate in lightness? Or, if something a little more heavyweight’s your kind of thing, the official unveiling of the new
Range Rover Sport
Mercedes CLA45 AMG
might have been more up your street. Changes to
new driver legislation
sound less exciting but they’re worth keeping yourself appraised of – especially if you’re a young driver or have kids who are about to be. Regulars, meanwhile, included a You Know You Want To
Jaguar XKR
we found in the classifieds that looked rather good value, and an Ad Break featuring a lengthy promotional film for the
Volvo 850 T5
. Meanwhile, Al Suttie's brought us another excellent buyers' guide, this time on the
Mazda RX-8
, while Jon Urry's been out riding the
Honda
CBR600RR
Not much talk from us lot this week with all the news flying forth from New York, but in addition to the introduction of his S4, Chris has also managed to say farewell to his much-loved
Panamera
. In addition, Dan’s kept us abreast of all the behind-the-scenes chat over in New York with his
liveblog
- D-Type to Reims with Andy Wallace
- Subaru WRX STI farewell
- Lamborghini Gallardo facelift