GR Corolla driven, £50k two car garage...

... and great cars ruined by their image

By Cam Tait / Wednesday, 6 May 2026 / Loading comments

Guess how much the new Manthey Kit will set you back on a Porsche 911 GT3? Yep, it’s £56,000. Factor in a base price of £158,200 and you’ll wind up with a price in excess of what a GT3 RS cost when new. But with that you’re getting a heavily revised aero package, stiffer front springs (with slightly softer rears), uprated brake pads and lighter wheels with carbon dinner plates at the back. So it’s quite a comprehensive package, and one that’s proven six seconds faster around the Nurburgring than the regular 992.2 GT3, but is it an option box you should tick? That’s what we’ll be looking to answer in this week's episode of The Gassing Station podcast.

Speaking of questions that need answering, why is it that Toyota still hasn’t announced the GR Corolla for the UK market? Production has now migrated from Motomachi, Japan, to Burnaston, and Sam’s been to Brands Hatch to have a go in some of the first examples built in Britain. And yet, Toyota is still keeping tight lipped on whether it’ll dish a few out to local dealers. Admittedly, that’s easier said than done. The GR Corollas that are being built here are all for the North American market, apparently to keep up with the model’s sheer demand. We’ll let Sam go through all the details on the pod, but it might be worth pestering your local deal to convince Toyota that’s just as much demand for the GR Corolla here as there is across the pond.

Moving on to our buying challenge of the week, and it’s another two car garage that we’re looking to fill. The criteria is surprisingly simple: one should be good fun on a Scottish Highland roads, the other with some decent carrying space, and the two combined cannot exceed £50,000. Sam’s put forward this Jaguar F-Pace SVR at £31,850 for the practical option, with the remaining cash earmarked for bidding on this Lotus Elise JPS Type 72 that’s about to go under the hammer. I’ve put most of the budget towards the fun car, and for that I’ve gone for this Alpine A110 Legende at £38,995. That doesn’t leave much for the tip-run car, but I’ve managed to find a Subaru Forester STI at £10,850, bringing me just £155 under budget. Of course, if you think you can do better, you can put your own two-car garage forward in the topic here.

Finally, a topic we probably should have addressed a long time ago, and that’s great cars ruined by their image. Started by supacool1, who puts forward the Vauxhall VXRs of the 2000-2010s, but the BMW M140i, Audi RS3, Mercedes A45, VW Golf R and many more that all get a mention. Obviously, some cars attract a certain type of driver more than others. Hard to imagine a Nissan Figaro buyer has much interest in crackle maps, and it’s equally hard to imagine a GT-R buying re-trimming their interior to look more twee. But what we came to realise is that a car’s image is finite, and usually forgotten when the yob crowd moves on to something louder and more tuneable. Besides, who cares what people thinks. Buy what you want, drive what you want, and do with it what you want. Just make sure you’re listing to our podcast while you’re driving it.

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