Monday 13th July

Toyota GR GT first look, combustion Alpine A110...

... and the cars we'd take home from the Festival of Speed's Cartier Lawn

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Another year, and another Goodwood Festival of Speed is now in our rear-view mirror. What was once a summer party dedicated to anything on wheels has now become the unofficial British Motor Show, with manufacturers turning up in full force to present their latest wares. Naturally, we were on the (extremely hot) ground to check out the new metal and see what juicy information we could extract from the people behind it. With so much gleaned over the weekend, we’ve packed today’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast with everything we learned from this year’s Festival of Speed.

Starting with the new Alpine A110. We’ve known for a long time that the next generation of the little French sports car will be ditching its 1.8-litre turbo engine for batteries. A shame, because the current A110 is little more than a manual gearbox away from perfection - but France is by far Alpine’s biggest market and selling any model with a fruity combustion engine there is nigh on impossible. However, the new platform has been built to accommodate both electric and piston power, with an alleged expansion into the US potentially serving as the catalyst for an eventual return to combustion. Fingers firmly crossed. 

Then, it’s on to Toyota's take on a front-engined super-GT, one that’ll go up against the likes of the Mercedes-AMG GT, Aston Martin Vantage and Porsche 911 both on and off track. The company says the new GR GT has been built in tandem with the racing car, although having now seen both in the metal, it’s clear that motorsport has very much been the focus of the GT’s development. Toyota's first all-aluminium monocoque, a spaceframe chassis and double wishbone suspension all round point to a platform that pushes the GT3 rulebook right to the edge, and with no cap on production planned, you might actually be able to get your hands on one. From what we’ve seen so far, popping your name down on the waiting list might not be a bad idea.

But that's just scratching the surface of a jam-packed episode. We’ve got news on a new charging technology that could top your EV up in an instant, the McLaren MP4/8B Formula 1 car that served as the testbed for a Lamborghini V12, and a budget-less challenge where we pick the cars we’d take home from the uber-luxe Cartier lawn. All that and more from one of the best car shows on the planet. Well, second only to Annual Service on the 8th August, of course…

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Listen here

[John Henry]

It’s hardly a motor show when a long list of household name brands don’t appear. No Lotus, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Honda, VW.
Instead large stands for Chinese brands inexplicably allowed to sell to British consumers without the tariffs that the EU apply.

[GianiCakes]

Brexit was sold on the basis the UK would do its own thing and without a large national car manufacturing industry to protect there’s not much of an argument for levying additional sales tax on the consumer. This has been going on since Japanese motorbikes first arrived so at this point may as well let people have a decent car for the best price.
The good news is that the UK is still strong in the specialist and Motorsport sectors and the best British high end cars have resulted from foreign ownership.

[highway]

The reason Chinese brands get tariffed elsewhere is to protect European carmakers. Who ultimately employ people across Europe, including the UK, to make cars.
This would seem sensible.

[Clad-Hach]

highway said:

The reason Chinese brands get tariffed elsewhere is to protect European carmakers. Who ultimately employ people across Europe, including the UK, to make cars.
This would seem sensible.

Hmmm...

No tariff's on Chinese cars.
Lots of solar panels being bought from China for Labour's solar farms.
Labour allowing a Chinese super embassy to be build over critical City Of London data cables.

The above is the tip of the iceberg...do some research to see how much China has been allowed to influence major projects in the UK, its almost by design to ruin the UK economy...oh wait it has..!!!

If it smells fishy...it is fishy.

[asci.white]

John Henry said:

It s hardly a motor show when a long list of household name brands don t appear. No Lotus, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Honda, VW.
Instead large stands for Chinese brands inexplicably allowed to sell to British consumers without the tariffs that the EU apply.

Move on you cantankerous old fart. It was still full of amazing cars. And no, tax for imports are still there and just as aligned (with a little variation) with EU regulations as always.

[asci.white]

Clad-Hach said:

Hmmm...

No tariff's on Chinese cars.
Labour allowing a Chinese super embassy to be build over critical City Of London data cables.

Try using facts not Daily Mail..

The building is near the fibre cables, not on top of. It would be really difficult for them to tap or splice the fibre lin (this isn't an easy task, having had to do it myself) and without a trace. No chance...

[highway]

asci.white said:

Move on you cantankerous old fart. It was still full of amazing cars. And no, tax for imports are still there and just as aligned (with a little variation) with EU regulations as always.

‘A little variation’. You are a little variation. The Chinese brands are selling into the UK without the 30% tariffs levied by the EU. USA tariffs them at a far higher level and with good reason.
What good is it letting the marques that provide jobs in Britain and the UK face competition from state sponsored opponents?

Do you think the EU brands face a fair fight?

Maybe you are happy gawping at 1000bhp battery powered, reverse engineered cars and couldn’t care less. Life in a Jaecoo Strange Rover beckons..

[nismo48]

John Henry said:

It s hardly a motor show when a long list of household name brands don t appear. No Lotus, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Honda, VW.
Instead large stands for Chinese brands inexplicably allowed to sell to British consumers without the tariffs that the EU apply.

Still a fair spread of interesting car's