Nic Cackett

3 days ago | autocar.co.uk | Nic Cackett

Close You can snap one of these up for as little as £2500, but this will tie you to a moon-mileage car with clear signs of hard use. Stretch to around £7000-£10,000 and you will get a much tidier example. Our top choice, though, would be the brawny and characterful 330d, which gets a punchier six-cylinder oil-burner that makes 254bhp and 413lb ft of torque. It’s a crackerjack engine and suits the car well, and it will still do 53mpg on motorway schleps.

3 days ago | pistonheads.com | Nic Cackett

Given where Aston Martin is at the moment - and where we’ve been told it’s going - it’s tempting to look past the launch of the more familiar derivatives, and imagine what the firm might do to spice them up a little later in the lifecycle.

2 weeks ago | pistonheads.com | Nic Cackett

Spot the missing car. In any other year, we would’ve rolled out a Cayman 4.0 GTS to welcome an updated BMW M2 to the UK. But with the 718 hurtling toward retirement, Porsche doesn’t keep one on its current press fleet. And before very long, you won’t be able to buy one either. Sad times.

3 weeks ago | autocar.co.uk | Nic Cackett

Close If you’re after more fun from your city car, plus all-terrain usability, the Panda 4x4 is the one to go for, with its increased ride height, bright skidplates and chunky styling. The 4x4 rides acceptably, thanks to its small alloys and soft springs, and because it’s primarily front-driven (power is diverted to the rear in the event of slip), it’s as fun to drive as a standard Panda, albeit with a bit more roll.

1 month ago | pistonheads.com | Nic Cackett

It seems a long time ago that the Flying Spur was introduced as a slightly ungainly offshoot of the Continental GT - and that’s because it was. The original version was first shown 20 years ago last month and didn’t change a great deal for the next 14 years. For nine of them, it existed in the shadow of the Mulsanne, the L-series-powered saloon that was as opulent as Blenheim Palace and very nearly as sprawling.