Maserati Trofeos driven, £10k all-rounders...

... and reacquainting with cars you once owned

By Cam Tait / Tuesday, 11 August 2026 / Loading comments

There are a lot of grand tourers and sports cars to overlook before spending your hard-earned cash on a Maserati GranTurismo. The Aston Martin Vantage, Mercedes-AMG GT and Bentley Continental GT can all be had for just a smidgen more than the standard GranTurismo, not to mention your pick of the Porsche 911 range. But Maserati's new GranTurismo Trofeo aims to establish itself as a genuine contender, and Sheehan has been out to Italy to see whether it's really capable of taking the fight to the GT heavyweights.

Which is exactly where we’re starting this week’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast. As well as sharper looks introduced with the GranTurismo's recent facelift, the Trofeo's 3.0-litre V6 has been boosted to 590hp, thanks in part to a new exhaust system, while recalibrated suspension promises greater responsiveness. And it’s not just the GranTurismo Trofeo we’ll be covering, either, as Sam’s also driven the GranCabrio version and the new Grecale Modena V6, making him the perfect person to assess whether the sleeping giant is finally stirring.

Meanwhile, PHer R2Detour is looking to “downgrade” from a Mk3 Focus RS to something a little cheaper. It needs to be family-friendly, petrol and, ideally, “something interesting”, and they’ve got a budget of £10,000 to play with. Sam’s found this V6 supercharged Jaguar XF, which admittedly looks magnificent in Crystal Blue over cream leather, for a tenner shy of the budget. I, however, have gone a little left-field with this Honda Accord Euro R for £8,995. It’s not quite as polished as the Jag and has the odd mod, but it’s also got a screaming K20 and JDM rarity in its favour. Either should do the job nicely, though you can submit your own suggestions here.

To round things off, we’ve got the ‘seeing a car you used to own’ topic by Blacklab1 to flick through. As ever, it’s full of incredible stories, like aterribleusername identifying the remains of their old Corsa in field by cross-checking the VIN, or DJ-DST selling their Cavalier Turbo, a former Total Vauxhall magazine star, to someone who clearly didn’t cherish it in the same way they did. Pop your own tales in the topic here when you get the time, though we'd recommend giving the pod a listen first. That trip down memory lane can wait an hour.

Listen here