Why Theory? Around the web: Rover 45 TD

Having put a sizeable dent in the side of my Rover 200 Coupé, the hunt was on for a new car. The first car I looked at was a Mk3 Golf GTI 8v, but despite it having comparable performance to my 200 coupe, insurance said no  - ‘we don’t insure under 21s on any GTI’. With that out of the window speed was of the essence, I needed a car for work and I started looking at everything. Except not everything, liking my cars as I do it had to be something reasonably interesting. As luck would have it a bargain priced Rover 45 TD caught my eye and warranted a look. 

Read on?

Trader Dreamer: Vauxhall Vectra Special

This week a one owner, high mileage Vauxhall Vectra has grabbed my attention. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is an ex-minicab, but fortunately this Vectra is much cooler than that. This Vauxhall barge is in-fact ex police, and it’s called a Special because it is. Beneath that un-impressive exterior lies a turbocharged 2.8 V6.

A Vectra V6 Special in Service - Photo from Trojan631

Can Ford build an Audi?

The September 5^th issue of Autocar contains a very interesting interview with Ford CEO Allan Mulally - a man who managed to turn the fortunes of both Boeing and Ford for the better. He must now face the same challenge that all automakers are sweating over – a contracting market dominated by Volkswagen with their easily scaled, high profit, MQB platform. Autocar’s Steve Cropley asks the difficult question; ‘How come Volkswagen is doing so well in Europe’. Mulally points out that they do exceedingly well in their home market as well as China going on to say, ‘the VW Group is mostly VW and Audi. The Volume is VW, but most of the profits come from Audi’.

‘The Volume is VW, but most of the profits come from Audi’

Trader Dreamer: A2 and Laguna, now in brown!

Brown, I keep going on about it and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. In a world which looked very much in danger of being taken over by white cars, we need a new fashionable colour. The car manufacturers seem to agree with me (nothing to do with the fact that it's hard to charge extra for white I'm sure) and cars just keep on launching in this fetching colour. The CLS Shooting Brake is just one recent example.

Trader Dreamer: Hyundai XG

To a certain kind of car enthusiast, there are three things will appeal on this weeks trader dreamer. It’s a bargain barge, it’s got yellow fog lights and it’s got pillar-less doors. It really is a bargain too, the car that has all this and more can be had for true shed money, you could have change from £1,000. The car? The Hyundai XG30.

An XG in Chile, photo from juanelo242. 

Trader Dreamer: Eagle Talon

This weeks trader dreamer is more of a ‘try and find another one’ than anything else. A browse through ebay saw me happen across this rarity in the UK, howmanyleft states that while there were once 4 in the UK, only one remains on the road, presumably this one. You’d surely be hard pressed to find another totally unique car for the small sum of £2,495!

Phone Wallpaper: Kevin Corsius' BMW E36 in action

Grab this iPhone optimized wallpaper for your handset right away, you can almost smell the tyres and there's even a choice of versions, enjoy!

Download link after the jump...

Ver.A                                        Ver.B

The British Drift Championship Round 4

Drifting. I find it hard to see how some petrolheads dislike this sport, it is after all very highly tuned vehicles destroying tyres in the name of entertainment, and what’s not to like about that? I wouldn’t call my self an avid follower of the scene; the last time I went to a drift event was JDM allstars in 2009. However leaving round 4 of the BDC I found myself thinking much the same thing as I did back in 2009, I really should follow this sport more.

A M3 GTR lookalike with a Toyota Supra 2JZGTE against a Silvia S15 equipped with a Nissan V8 and twin turbos – you’re unlikely to find cars like this elsewhere…

Trader Dreamer: Mercedes CLS

If you follow any source of motor news then you’ll probably have seen a review of the new BMW 6 series Gran Coupe. Regardless of the fact it’s rather good to drive, this new four-door coupe has a major advantage in that it might just be the best looking car of it’s type on sale. Its not like it hasn’t got plenty of competition; the slightly dull but still attractive VW CC, the Audi A7, which I strongly disliked until I saw it in brown. The new CLS is nice but the 6 series just about edges it on style, but my (very subjective) point here is that the most attractive modern four door coupe is actually the CLS, just not the present one.

Photo From kenjonbro

Trader Dreamer: Lada Riva

The Lada Riva, or AvtoVAZ 2107 finished production three weeks ago, and for a car which is so well known, not just among car people, but also the wider public, it didn’t get much press for it. It even has the accolade of being the third best selling car platform ever built.

Photo from Patrick_Glesca

Phone Wallpaper: Lamborghini Murcielago SV

Want to see this rather tasty SV every time you unlock your phone? be my guest and download (direct link below);

Trader Dreamer: Jaguar XKR 5.0

It would seem Bentley has done a good job with their new Continental V8, reviews are positive and most reports suggest it’s a better choice than the W12 that supposedly sits above it in the range. Fine praise indeed and looking at the specifics of it, it’s hard to argue with them. The V8 sounds better, is hardly slower, and cheaper than it’s twelve-cylinder brother, so Autocar’s 4 star review of the GTC V8 seems pretty justified then. The car it just beats (both receiving 4 stars) in the ‘Road Test Top 5’ is the Jaguar XKR, and that’s the car I recommend.

Photo From kenjonbro

Trader Dreamer: MINI Clubman

Brown. It’s a pretty seventies colour. The 70’s are good, nylon shirts, big colours, disco music; it’s surprising to me that more aspects of this period of time haven’t made a resurgence. At present we seem to be in a micro eighties revival, and to petrolheads, that means white cars. The white paintwork that once proudly adorned Carlson Mercedes’, Lamborghini Countach’s and Escort XR3i’s is now prolific, not only on Audi’s 2011 Goodwood stand, but also on the driveways and motorways of the United Kingdom. Surely now its time for something new, and I think brown is the answer. As always there’s a trendsetter, and the first modern car that I can recall launching in brown (that’s not a fact, just my memory!) came back in 2007.

Trader Dreamer: Renault Laguna Initiale 2.0 dCi

Who doesn’t like toys to play with? Maybe I’m just childish, but there’s something appealing about having a large amount of technology to play with. Why else do people buy an S-class? Many reasons probably, but ignoring the other ones, let me bestow some specs upon you; auto lights, auto wipers, electrically adjustable heated leather seats, auto dimming rear view mirror, xenon headlights, dual zone climate control, 6 CD multichanger, parking sensors, Bluetooth prepared sat nav, Insurance group 11, 150 bhp, 48.7mpg. Sounds good doesn’t it? It sounds so much better when you find all this could be yours for £2,850?

 

Photo from Charles-Emmanuel

WT Awards: Geneva ‘12

So you’ve probably all heard about this Geneva thing that happened earlier this month. My ability to comment is somewhat limited by the fact that I was unable to make the journey, but having let others do all the looking around and reporting for me I shall now bestow my judgement on some of the cars that featured there.

Photo from NRMA

Why Would You? Mercedes SL

Of course, I can very well understand why you want to by an SL, for some top down boulevard cruising, there’s little better. However this particular SL I cannot understand, can you see why?

Trader Dreamer: Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG

It’s pretty strange that I’ve yet to feature a Mercedes on this site, it’s a brand I’m very fond of. There’s something about that three-pointed star on the bonnet that makes you want to progress serenely and comfortably to your destination. Older Mercedes’ delivered this very well, combined with a level of over-engineering that made their cars feel like they could last forever. By 2004 Mercedes had lost some of this in an attempt to match BMW’s driver image, but there was one car that went straight onto the Euromillions win shopping list; the CL65 AMG.

Trader Dreamer: Audi A2

You may have read my ‘Dream Barn’, on the excellent Petrolblog. Whether you did or not, one of my choices was the Audi RS4, and I claimed it was nearly the best Audi ever, but not quite, thanks to the A2. Of course this is entirely my opinion, but I’m fully prepared to justify the A2’s place above the fire-breathing RS4 in this weeks ‘Trader Dreamer’.

Picture from wyzik

The Squeezed Middle

If you cast your mind back to the last UK elections you’ll remember this phrase being chucked about a lot. I can’t remember who exactly said it, as all politicians have since become a faceless blur to me, blithering on about a financial crisis which none of them control. This blog, despite a title based in politics, is about cars. Who this squeezed middle is in society seems to be something that no one wants to define. However with the much simpler motorcar, it’s more easily pin pointed.

Trader Dreamer: BTCC Special I

YouTube is a wonderful thing, aside from millions of hours of utterly pointless drivel and many more comments of the same ilk, there’s seemingly no limit to what you can watch. I’ve recently been entertaining myself by watching BTCC videos. I’m a huge fan of the super touring years of the sport, and YouTube makes it possible to watch those races on demand. This is the first of ‘Trader Dreamer’s inspired by this great racing series, and it’s natural to start with the year 1990, the first year to feature the new 2-litre class that would make the series so very special.

(Picture from Ejcallow)