Apollo IE driven, £22k practical performance.

... and the cars you regret selling

By Cam Tait / Tuesday, 26 May 2026 / Loading comments

Only on The Gassing Station podcast will you find an electric Mercedes CLA serving as the warm-up act for a pair of track-focused German hypercars. But having just come back from driving both the Gumpert Apollo and Apollo Intensa Emozione, Sam thought it best to wax lyrical about the 400-plus-mile range of the CLA Shooting Brake and how infrequently he’s been charging it. To be fair, you’ll need something to go to and from the circuit to drive your track-only Apollos, and wouldn’t your fuel money be better spent on keeping them brimmed and ready for use? Thought so.

Brief CLA cameo aside, today’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast is all about Sam’s drive of the aforementioned Apollos. Despite sharing a name (albeit in a slightly unorthodox way), the old Gumpert Apollo and much newer Apollo IE are vastly different beasts. The former mixes GT1-inspired aero with a 730hp twin-turbo V8 propelling it, while the latter boasts some of the most extravagant bodywork ever bolted to a car and pairs it with a 6.3-litre Ferrari V12 that’s been heavily reworked to produce 780hp. If you read Sam’s write-up, you’ll know he’s quite keen on the IE, so I decided to put that to the test and see if there’s anything else he’d rather have on the classifieds for the Apollo’s £3,000,000 asking price.

On a more relatable note, PHer bnbnbn is on the lookout for a new practical performance car to replace their Mini Cooper S. The only criteria is that it needs to have an interesting engine sound, can fit two adults plus two kids and, while running costs aren’t a major concern, it shouldn’t throw up any expensive surprises. In Sam’s eyes, this Mercedes CLS 63 AMG fit the bill perfectly and, annoyingly, he’s got a point. For £18,995, you’re getting a 6.2-litre V8 with 514hp and plenty of space inside, not to mention achingly cool looks. I, however, have gone down the sensible route for once, because I’m putting forward this BMW 340i Touring for £17,975. Not only does that make it cheaper than Sam’s car, but it’s way more practical and will make far fewer trips to the pumps. Obviously, if you think you’ve got something better in mind, you can pop it in the topic here.

To cap the episode off, we trawl through the many replies in XRMike’s ‘the one that got away’ topic. We’ve all been there, letting a car go only to regret it later down the line when a) you realise nothing you’ve owned since comes close to the one you sold or b) you’ve seen how much they’ve gone up in value. There are some fantastic replies in there, including RDMcG’s story about how Sabine Schmitz drove their long-sold 997.2 911 GT3 RS, so get your stories into the topic here after giving the pod a listen.

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