Charlie Thomas

1 month ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

The Land Rover Defender OCTA is entirely unnecessary. Nobody needs a 626bhp Defender, a car derived from military use and adopted by farmers and landowners. But that is exactly why it is so brilliant. The OCTA is the most powerful, most exaggerated Defender ever made, and the antithesis to many a new car. This is not a machine that relies on big batteries for its power, and while it is a mild hybrid, it defers to a huge 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 for kicks.

2 months ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

After taking a wrong turn and driving up an unused slender mountain road, the Polestar 3 should have struggled. But thanks to its smooth power delivery, adaptive four wheel drive system and active suspension, as well as its trusty Continental winter tyres, it made light work of the ice track. The road slimmed further halfway up the mountain and eventually ran out, but the 3’s ability to tackle tricky road surfaces was just getting started.

2 months ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

There is something about Paris and style. The city is, and always has been, the home of fashion, and it is this allure that ensures it remains a crucial destination for many a design house. Paris has birthed a number of important tailors, couturiers, and style muses, from Cifonelli and Camps de Luca to Serge Gainsbourg and Francois Hardy. That many of the world’s greatest names choose to showcase their latest clothing collections here every year is testament to the city’s lasting appeal.

Jan 21, 2025 | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

It doesn’t take long for the world of menswear to kick off the new year. Every year in January, two of the calendar’s biggest style events inform press and visitors what the style conscious will be wearing next winter, and they both take place in Italy. Trade show Pitti Uomo kicks things off, with the world’s finest craft and heritage brands descending to Florence, before Milan’s AW25 shows welcomes big fashion houses to the runways.

Jan 18, 2025 | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

It would have been almost impossible to miss Jaguar’s recent news. It’s long been known the marque would go fully electric, and it was one of the first to announce its EV future back in 2021, committing to electric power long before many of its rivals. Since that time, the likes of Bentley and Aston Martin have actually retracted their own EV projects, instead focussing on hybrid powertrains due to customer demand.