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.