Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Deputy Editor at Classic.Retro.Modern.

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Freelance Writer at Motoring Research

Featured in: Favicon

motoringresearch.com Favicon

classicretromodern.com Favicon

msn.com

thesun.co.uk Favicon

yahoo.com

news.com.au Favicon

autoexpress.co.uk Favicon

heraldsun.com.au Favicon

thescottishsun.co.uk Favicon

cityam.com + 7 more

Articles

The Volkswagen Passat W8 was an upmarket prelude to the Phaeton,…

1 week ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Ferdinand Piëch reportedly came up with the idea for a W engine while riding the long train runnin’ between Tokyo and Nagoya. Some would say the late CEO of Volkswagen must have been smoking a doobie if he thought the world would embrace the idea of a Volkswagen Passat with a 4.0-litre W8 engine. Still, what a fool believes, etc. The former CEO was no fool. At Porsche, he designed the iconic 917 race car.
4-midable: Celebrating the brilliance of the Renault 4

1 week ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Describing the Renault 4 as a car with character is a little like saying your washing machine has soul. Passion, style and flair aren’t words you’d readily associate with the design and construction of the ‘Quatrelle’. This was a car developed under the workmanlike pillars of efficiency, versatility and cheapness.
In hindsight: Celebrating the groundbreaking Mk1 Honda Insight

1 week ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

You need to start somewhere. When the Honda Insight went on sale in 2000, it was the first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid to go on sale in the UK, beating the Toyota Prius to market by a matter of weeks. In a parallel universe, the Insight is the brand generic for the hybrid vehicle and is loved by everyone from greenwashed celebs to sandal-wearing eco fanatics. Leaving the well-worn clichés aside, the Honda Insight was a quantum leap forward for the green car industry.
A giant among small cars: Why the Mk1 Fiat Panda popped

1 week ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

I’ve been starring at the blinking cursor on my MacBook for too long, wondering how to begin this ode to the original Fiat Panda. Seconds turn into minutes, as I sit at my desk, arms crossed, searching for inspiration. Giorgetto Giugiaro didn’t have the luxury of time when he was tasked with designing a new small car for Fiat.
Renault takes aim at Mini with ‘cheeky’ campaign for the 5-Tech

1 week ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Renault is taking what it calls ‘a cheeky poke’ at Mini with an outdoor ad campaign outside its London West site in Brentford. The Renault dealer is opposite a Mini showroom, you see. Beneath a billboard with the headline ‘Make your neighbours jealous’, Renault has positioned a 5 E-Tech adorned with a Union Flag on the roof. The French firm is hoping that punters will shun the opportunity to go on a Mini adventure, choosing instead to take a punt on the current darling of the electric car world.
20 great used cars for £5,000

2 weeks ago | motoringresearch.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Used car bargains © Skoda It might surprise you to discover that the cheapest new car costs around £15,000. Gone are the days when you could buy a Dacia Sandero for a fiver short of £6,000 or a new city car for £10,000. Fortunately, the used car market is brimming with secondhand gems. Armed with a budget of £5,000, you can take your pick from a wide range of cars. Our choices are all registered after 2012 and should have no more than 100,000 miles on the clock.
About time: The slow birth of the Smart car

2 weeks ago | petrolblog.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

If Daimler could turn back time, it would almost certainly go back to 1989, when Cher was all hair and fishnets on the deck of USS Missouri. Jumping aboard the Smart project put the German company in danger of being left up a particular creek without a paddle. Heck, building battleships might have been a more sensible move.
19 sales disasters that became cult cars

2 weeks ago | motoringresearch.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Top of the flops © BMW Not every car can be a success. For every Toyota Corolla, Mazda MX-5 or Ford Cortina, there’s a Suzuki X-90, Cadillac Allante or Volkswagen Phaeton. But just because a car was a sales flop, that doesn’t mean we don’t dream of owning it. These cars may not have flown out of showrooms, but they have subsequently soared to new heights. Audi A2 © Audi It’s often said that the Audi A2, launched to great fanfare in 1999, was years ahead of its time.
compulsory and voluntary excess explained

2 weeks ago | msn.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
compulsory and voluntary excess explained

2 weeks ago | msn.com | Gavin Braithwaite-Smith

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.