The first week of December has most offices fretting about Christmas parties and New Year resolutions. No chance of that at PHHQ, there’s still a load of interesting stuff to talk about! Since Monday we’ve tried Gran Turismo 6, seen the
Porsche 918 at Valencia
on the Nordschleife
and been informed on the latest addition to the Harris fleet. See it all here.
There's been a strong American influence on our news and features this week, the most significant of which was the announcement of the
latest
Ford Mustang
. Now headed for Europe with an EcoBoost four-cylinder turbo and independent rear suspension, the Mustang will still offer some old fashioned V8 muscle if you're that way inclined.
And there was no way we could leave the 'stang at just the new car. See the PH timeline for the full history, plus read the fascinating story of one man with 43 Mustangs.
If a new muscle car evokes thoughts of coastal cruises and living the American dream, we can help (sort of). Dan's latest Dream Drive comes straight from California, where he also dropped in on Singer Vehicle Design.
Anyway, back in brisk and breezy Britain, the news has been as sublime, ridiculous and bizarre as always. Need an example? How about a Dacia Duster with a machine gun? Or the return of Saab? Weirdest news story of the week must be the Lamborghini VenenoRoadster launch though; where better to launch a 200mph hypercar than an aircraft carrier?
Favoured by the police, now by PH too
For those in need of something more sensible, we must turn to the Germans. Audi surprised absolutely nobody when it announced a
Q1 juniorSUV
is coming, and the 2 Series
M Performance
upgrades
were expected anytime soon. Furthermore, that the
Skoda Octavia vRS
was simply a very accomplished car was as we would have predicted. Now to try a petrol one!
It was in fact Toyota and Infiniti that provided us with the biggest surprises of the week. The former is developing a Yaris WRC car with the potential of a factory-backed rallying return, and Infiniti will reveal a faster Q50 at Detroit. Details of the Eau Rouge special are light at present, and the standard Q50 wasn't brilliant, but we'll attempt to remain optimistic for a while.
It's not often political stories make their to the PH homepage, but there was an exception this week with the news that tax discs are to be abolished. With a direct debit option being introduced, there will be no excuse for not paying VED!
This doesn't look like a Land Cruiser...
A hectic week (again) for those of us that keep PH ticking along. Chris Harris has finally resolved his PH conundrum with a
Range Rover
Supercharged
and his video this week features
BMW's DTM M3
Paul Walker's death
, Chris has also leapt to the defence of the Porsche Carrera GT in a
provocative PH Blog
Matt spent the start of the week in Ascari for the launch of Gran Turismo 6. With the game out this weekend, there will surely be plenty to discuss on the forums over the next few weeks. We were all rather chuffed to see Mallory Park saved too.
From the classifieds this week, we've featured an armoured BMW 5 Series (ideal for protection against those pesky Dacias) and a previous generation Honda Civic Type R. Moreover, if a Caterham has ever caught your eye on PH (probably not in December, admittedly), ensure you check our latest PH Buying Guide on a Seven.
Finally, Shed has chosen a classic BMW this week and Monday's Carpooler is living his childhood dream with a 350Z.
- Chris Harris drives the Porsche 918 Spyder
- We have a go with the 270hp turbocharged BBR MX-5
- On track in the Radical RXC